Stabilisation effect of strain hysteresis loop for steel 45

•Experimental studies are given on plastic-strain stabilization effect for steel 45.•Stabilisation effect of steel 45 is predicted by the structural–temporal model.•Strain amplitude and strain rate effects on the stable cycle for steel 45 are studied. The adaptability of steel 45 to low-cycle deformation from 100 to 1000 cycles at different constant strain amplitudes, characterised by the effect of plastic-strain stabilisation, is considered. In this study, the proposed structural–temporal model of cyclic deformation simultaneously predicted the stress-strain dependence and the effect of plastic-strain stabilisation based on hysteresis width. Experiments show that range of cycles for stable plastic deformation decreases with an increase in the strain amplitude and strain rate. The proposed model takes into account deformation history experimental data of low-cycle deformation of steel 45 and the presence of an established stabilisation effect.