Abstract
In this paper, some of the factors which influence the appearance of Lüders bands in mild steel are studied. It is shown that the Lüders band is adequately described by a uniform shear front, spreading over the specimen. In coarse-grained specimens, experiments indicate that this front becomes diffuse; diffuse bands are also present in strain-aged material, but here the diffuse fronts become sharper as the ageing becomes progressively longer.