The mechanism of quench-hardening and its recovery in gold

Abstract

Resoftening characteristics of quench-hardened gold were experimentally determined. Resoftening occurred above 600°c at a highly temperature-dependent rate with an activation energy of 4·7 ev. Various quench-hardening mechanisms are considered. The processes corresponding to the observed characteristics are for quench-hardening: formation of tetrahedral stacking faults; and for resoftening: the nucleation of a Shockley partial dislocation ring on any face of the tetrahedron.