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Work Hardening

Strength and hardness of a metal increases as a result of plastic deformation. This process is called work hardening.

Increases:

  • strength
  • hardness

Decreases:

  • ductility
  • toughness

Steps

  • Specimen is loaded onto a tensile test apparatus
  • Test is stopped after the specimen has gone under plastic deformation
  • Specimen is unloaded and reloaded
  • New diagram will have a increased yield strength