Enhanced work hardening in Hadfield steel during explosive treatment

This paper presents results concerning Hadfield steel subjected to explosive treatment and compression, respectively, with the purpose of clarifying the difference between dynamic and static deformation behaviors. A Hadfield steel sample that was deformed to a lower strain at an exceptionally high strain rate exhibited the same hardness as a sample that was deformed to a higher strain at a low strain rate. A deformation model based on in situ deformation has been developed, whereby the enhanced work hardening during explosive treatment is attributed to the deformation of the grains being mainly accommodated by the curvature of the grain boundaries and shape change of the surrounding grains in their original positions, without obvious macroscopic deformation.