Energy balance and identification of hardening moduli in plastic deformation processes

The hardening moduli Hr and Hd of plastic deformation associated with the free energy and dissipation function in a representative material element are defined analytically and specified experimentally for three materials. Besides the stress–strain curve and work expended during the deformation process, variation of the hardening moduli with plastic deformation is also determined for austenitic steel, austenitic-ferritic steel and Fe–Si alloy.