Impulse Excitation Internal Friction Study of Dislocation and Point Defect Interactions in Ultra-Low Carbon Bake-Hardenable Steel

The simultaneous presence of interstitial solutes and dislocations in an ultra-low carbon bake-hardenable steel gives rise to two characteristic peaks in the internal friction (IF) spectrum: the dislocation-enhanced Snoek peak and the Snoek–Kê–Köster peak. These IF peaks were used to study the dislocation structure developed by the pre-straining and the static strain aging effect of C during the bake-hardening process. A Ti-stabilized interstitial-free steel was used to ascertain the absence of a γ-peak in the IF spectrum of the deformed ultra-low carbon steel. The analysis of the IF data shows clearly that the bake-hardening effect in ultra-low carbon steel is entirely due to atmosphere formation, with the dislocation segment length being the main parameter affecting the IF peak amplitude. Recovery annealing experiments showed that the rearrangement of the dislocation structure lead to the elimination of the C atmosphere.