Compressive mechanical behavior of nanocrystalline Fe investigated with an automated ball indentation technique

Nanocrystalline (nc) iron was produced by mechanical attrition and compacted into near fully dense samples. Isothermal annealing at 800 K resulted in grain sizes between 15 and 24 nm. A newly available Automated Ball Indentation system was used to study the compressive mechanical properties of the samples. The ABI method proved useful in examining the mechanical properties of nc iron on a more quantitative level than previously possible by conventional hardness testing methods. Stress–strain curves were obtained which indicated a compressive behavior similar to that of perfectly plastic materials: low strain hardening at high flow stresses around 3 GPa and a low room-temperature strain-rate sensitivity. The flow stresses were independent of the grain size in the range of the present study. The deformation pile-up around the indentations seems to have formed inhomogeneously, exhibiting intense plastic deformation in localized shear bands.