tensile strength or shape modification due electrical current

Do anyone here had listen something about any material having a condition of increasing or decreasing tensile strength due a electrical current applied to it? Or, any material with modification of shape due a electrical current application? Is there knowledge of any research in these directions?

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I examined a thesis a couple of year sago on work in this area - based on some Russian work where apparently they significantly reduce the flow stress of steel during rolling by passing massive DC currents through it. The Russkies thought the effect might be due to electron-wind enhanced dislocation motion - me, I reckon it's simply Joule heating. Unfortunately I can't remember any names !
There are also well-documented effects of electric fields and currents affecting dislocation motion and flow stress in ionic and compound semiconductor crystals. Also Russian work, mostly. They did some pretty esoteric stuff before the 1990's.
Steve

Steve Roberts wrote:
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The Russians seem to have a history of seraching for external fields that change behavior and structure of matter.
In the mid 1960's I read early translations of this kind of work in quite a few kinds of materials. WOnderful stuff..... that nobody else ever seemed to manage to duplicate.
I've forgotten the details but Russian work in the 1980's suggested major changes in the properties of polymers in high magnetic fields.
I met a government lab worker who had worked on trying to verify this Russian work for three or four years..... and was at the ends of his rope. Pretty testy individual.
Jim Buch