Characterization of thermodynamic response by materials testing

Thermodynamic response determinations during materials testing inevitably involves plastic deformation. The thermodynamic response was measured as dictated by the theory of thermally activated flow of crystalline solids. Once the testing method has been substantiated, the theories of plastic flow require examination and/or modeling to predict the thermodynamic response under various microstructural and test conditions. The detailed mechanics of the origin of elastic displacement due to an abrupt change in displacement rate which has to be compensated for are discussed. A simplified kinematic explanation is presented and the parameters for dynamically characterizing the microstructure are defined.