Bauschinger Effect in Creep and Tensile Tests on Copper

The Bauschinger effect, or rounding of the corner of the stress-strain curve upon reloading, represents a temporary apparent softness that is more pronounced at large strains than small and for complete unloading than for partial unloading. Interrupted creep tests on copper exhibit a similar temporary softness (high creep rate) upon reloading. The fact that the strainwise dying-out time of these effects is the same in both tensile and creep tests shows that they are related. Thus, the term Bauschinger effect appears to embrace behavior following partial or complete unloading and reloading in addition to behavior following reversed loading. It is suggested that the term may properly apply also to certain creep behaviors following a small load decrement.