Originally Posted by
dwood
Not to quibble . . . but you are misinformed in this instance. The amount of bending done to bars work-hardens them, raising the tensile strength . . . they are stronger.
I'm curious at what amount would the bending be detrimental?
I just googled "work hardening brittle" and found this:
Work hardening is closely related to fatigue. In the example on fatigue given above, bending the thin steel rod becomes more difficult the farther the rod is bent. This is the result of work or strain hardening. Work hardening reduces ductility, which increases the chances of brittle failure.
http://www.tpub.com/content/doe/h101...h1017v2_88.htm
Please PM me if I'm totally off-base.