Plastic deformation of polycrystalline zirconium carbide
The compressive yield strength of arc-melted polycrystalline zirconium carbide has been found to vary from 77 kg per sq mm at 1200 C to 19 kg per sq mm at 1800 C. Yield drops were observed with plastic strain-rates greater than 0.003/sec but not with slower strain rates. Strain-rate change experiments yielded values for the strain-rate sensitivity parameter m which range from 6.5 at 1500 C to 3.8 at 1800 C, and the product dislocation velocity stress exponent times T was found to decrease linearly with increasing temperature. The deformation rate results are consistent with the Kelly-Rowcliffe model in which the diffusion of carbon assists the motion of dislocations.