Autowave Description of the Luders and Portevin-Le Chatelier Phenomena

The kinetics of Chernov-Luders and Portevin-Le Chatelier deformation processes at the yield plateau in an aluminum-magnesium alloy is analyzed. It is established that the deformation is localized in moving deformation fronts. In general, the movement of the fronts proceeds discretely and only in the phase of abrupt unloading of the sample. Continuous movement of deformation fronts is possible if the rate of recovery of the operating stresses applied by test device is greater than or equal to the rate of stress decline controlled by internal processes at a lower structural-scale level. The kinetics of the motion of deformation fronts, both in the Chernov-Luders and Portevin-Le Chatelier processes, can be described within the autowave concept of plastic flow, and the fronts themselves represent excitation autowaves.