Modelling of the intragranular back-stress and recovery in FCC single crystals and polycrystals

High temperature mechanical tests including recovery times on FCC metals or alloys involve at least two mechanisms. First, the formation of a two phase dislocation microstructure (cells, walls/channels... ) induces intragranular back-stress and hardening. Second, if the recovery time and the temperature are large enough, the previously formed dislocation microstructure can disappear, even if no remote stress is applied. Simple models of these two mechanisms are proposed. They are based on TEM observations and are validated comparing with several measurements from the literature. These models do not use arty fitted parameter and could help to predict the macroscopic behavior during creep-fatigue tests. (author)