Experimental Observation and Modelling of the Electroplastic Effect in Nonferromagnetic Ductile Metals

Abstract

In this study, an innovative methodology to experimentally distinguish the ElectroPlastic (EP) effect from the thermal expansion and thermal softening was developed and applied to validate the proposed theoretical electro-mechanical model. Two series of quasi-static uniaxial tension experiments with titanium and copper were conducted and a quadratic dependence was observed of the EP strain on the electric current density, corrected for increased dislocation density levels. This study experimentally confirmed the existence of EP phenomenon in ductile metals. The significance of the non-EP effects in the electro-mechanical coupling problems was estimated and the experimental procedure limitations were thoroughly discussed as well as the sensitivity and uncertainty, associated with each of the model parameters. Conclusions and suggestions for future work supplement the study. This piloting work on electro-mechanical coupling provides a solid foundation for further modelling and experimental observation of the electroplastic effect.