The nature of the electroplastic effect in metals

On the basis of an analysis of the known regularities of the electroplastic effect (EPE) the article suggests a mechanism of plastic deformation of metallic materials when electric current pulses (ECP) act; in accordance with this mechanism the energy of conduction electrons is transferred directly to dislocations and is realized in the form of plastic work. The plastic strain rate at the instant when an ECP acts increases in consequence of the increased density of the moving dislocations and the mean speed at which they move. The article shows that the suggested mechanism makes it possible to describe all the known regularities of the EPE. With the aid of theoretical modeling of electroplastic deformation by the suggested mechanism new regularities of the EPE were established: when ECP act, the temperature of the deformed material is lower than that calculated by the Joule law of electric heating; the threshold value of the current density determining a jump of the load becomes lower with increasing degree of plastic deformation of the material, etc. The established regularities of the EPE were experimentally confirmed.Translated from Problemy Prochnosti, No. 1, pp. 47–51, January, 1991.