Grain boundary strengthening (Hall-Petch strengthening)

Grain boundary strengthening (or Hall-Petch strengthening) is a method of strengthening materials by changing their average crystallite (grain) size. It is based on the observation that grain boundaries impede dislocation movement and that the number of dislocations within a grain have an effect on how easily dislocations can traverse grain boundaries and travel from grain to grain. So, by changing grain size one can influence dislocation movement and yield strength. For example, heat treatment after plastic deformation and changing the rate of solidification are ways to alter grain size

Hall-Petch Strengthening is limited by the size of dislocations. Once the grain size reaches about 10 nm, grain boundaries start to slide

Hall-Petch relationship There is an inverse relationship between delta yield strength and grain size to some power, x. where k is the strengthening coefficient and both k and x are material specific. The smaller the grain size, the smaller the repulsion stress felt by a grain boundary dislocation and the higher the applied stress needed to propagate dislocations through the material.

The relation between yield stress and grain size is described mathematically by the Hall-Petch equation which is where ky is the strengthening coefficient (a constant unique to each material), σo is a materials constant for the starting stress for dislocation movement (or the resistance of the lattice to dislocation motion), d is the grain diameter, and σy is the yield stress.