Abstract: Kinetics of the loading surface of a material gives precious information on the
level of the hardening of the material. This paper is concerned with the evolution of the
loading surface during successive actions, such as: (i) plastic deformation, (ii) annealing of
the pre-strained specimen, and (iii) secondary creep of the treated material. The analysis of
the loading surface is carried out in terms of the synthetic theory of irrecoverable
deformation.
Keywords: loading surface; mechanical-thermal treatment; creep and plastic strain;
synthetic theory of irrecoverable deformatio
