Plastic Deformation

If a material deforms plastically, it changes its shape and the

atoms of a crystal have to change their positions.
a) Deformation by changing the crystal structure
b) Deformation by slip (without crystal structure change

Slip lines

The shear stress that is required to displace two crystal blocks along a crystallographic plane by one atomic spacing b:

1
 Crystallographic Slip by Dislocation Motion

Calculations of the theoretical strength of crystals based on the simultaneous motion

of all atoms along the slip band showed systematic deviations of several orders of
magnitude with respect to the experimental values.

In 1934 Taylor, Orowan, and Polanyi postulated independently the existence of a lattice
defect that would allow part of the crystal to slip at much lower stress levels.

Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Meyers & Chawla 2

Crystallographic Slip by Dislocation Motion

By introducing an extra half plane of atoms into the lattice, atom bond breakage on the
slip plane could be restricted to the immediate vicinity of the bottom edge of the half
plane.
This linear defect where only one row of bonds is broken is called the dislocation line.
As the dislocation line moves through the crystal, bond breakage across the slip plane
occurs consecutively rather than simultaneously as was necessary in the perfect lattice

3
Defects in crystalline materials

Crystal defects: a fundamental consequence of equilibrium thermodynamics

classified according to their dimension:

0D: point defects (vacancies and interstitial atoms)
1D: line defect (dislocations)
2D: planar defects (grain and phase boundaries)

Crystal defects control materials properties:

• Plastic deformation consists of generation and motion of dislocations.

• Diffusion controlled phase transformations need vacancies for diffusion.
• Recrystallization proceeds by generation and motion of grain boundaries.

4
 Dislocations

A line where a crystallographic plane terminates in a crystal,

Localized lattice disturbances separating deformed and non-deformed parts

Mechanical Behavior of Materials, Meyers & Chawla 5

Geometry of Dislocations

A dislocation is characterized by its line element s and its Burgers vector b.

• The line element is the unit vector tangential to the dislocation line. If the
dislocation line is curved, s will change along the dislocation line.
• The Burgers vector has the length and direction of the vector by which the two
parts of the crystal above and below the plane of motion of the dislocation are
displaced with respect to each other.

The Burgers vector for a given dislocation never changes.

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Geometry of Dislocations
For edge dislocations the Burgers vector is perpendicular to the dislocation line
whereas for screw dislocations the Burgers vector and line element are parallel to
each other.
If either Burgers vector or line element of parallel dislocation lines are of opposite
sign, they are called antiparallel dislocations. If two antiparallel dislocations meet,
they annihilate each other

Edge
dislocation

Screw
dislocation

Introduction to Dislocations D. Hull and D. J. Bacon

7
Geometry of Dislocations

The Burgers vector can be defined exactly by the Burgers circuit. FS/RH rule (finish-
start/right-hand).

Mechanical Behaviour of Engineering Materials

Metals, Ceramics, Polymers, and Composites, by Roesler et al

Introduction to Dislocations D. Hull and D. J. Bacon

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Geometry of Dislocations

Mixed dislocations: Dislocations exhibiting both edge and screw characteristics.

These are the dislocations mostly encountered in real crystals. It is very difficult to
have pure edge or pure screw dislocations.

The edge components (be) and screw components

(bs ) of a dislocation are defined by the orientation
of the Burgers vector with regard to the line
element
s

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Dislocation loops
A dislocation can never end in a crystal. However, a dislocation can occur in a
configuration of a closed loop in a crystal, without being in contact with the surface.

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 Dislocation loops

A dislocation loop can never be composed only of screw dislocations. In contrast it can
consist only of edge dislocations if its Burgers vector is parallel to the plane of the
loop. Such dislocations are referred to as Frank dislocations or prismatic dislocation
loops.

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Dislocation density

Dislocation density (r) is defined by the total length of the dislocation lines per unit
volume. ([m/m3] = [m-2].

If all dislocations are straight and parallel with an average distance of d:

r = 1/d2
This is used to determine the dislocation density by etch pitting.

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Observation of dislocations

By high resolution imaging techniques (e.g. atomic resolution transmission electron

microscopy) the atomic structure of crystals and correspondingly, dislocations can be
imaged.
Even with conventional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) dislocations can be
imaged easily because they appear as dark lines in a bright field image.

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Crystallographic Slip by Dislocation Motion

Dislocations can move and their motion causes plastic deformation in crystalline solids.
The slip plane (the plane along which the dislocation line is displaced) is defined by
m=s x b
Where m is the normal to the slip plane.

• Screw dislocations do not have a defined slip plane and can change their slip plane
(cross slip).

• Prismatic dislocations are immobile.

• Edge dislocations and mixed dislocations have a defined slip plane. They can leave
the slip plane only by absorption or emission of vacancies (climb). (non-
conservative motion)

• Since vacancy diffusion is a thermally activated

process, dislocation climb becomes an important
process only at elevated temperatures above about
one-half the melting point of the material.

14
Crystallographic Slip by Dislocation Motion

Characteristics of Dislocations

15
 Crystallographic Slip by Dislocation Motion
To move a dislocation on its slip plane, it has to pass through a higher energy configuration.
This requires a force corresponding to a shear stress on its slip plane. It is called the Peierls-
Nabarro or Peierls stress.
This Peierls stress tp can be derived with some approximations

The Peierls stress is proportional to the shear modulus

but depends exponentially on the ratio of lattice spacing
d to the Burgers vector b (slip direction).

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 Slip systems in fcc crystals

The Peierls stress in fcc crystals is smallest for slip of dislocations with Burgers vector
b=a/2<110> on {111} planes.
è Slip systems in fcc crystals: {111} <110>

12 slip systems of fcc crystal.

Dislocation density analysis of GaAs bulk single crystal during ingot annealing process (comparison among several computational
methods), Miyazaki et al. 17
Slip systems in bcc crystals
In bcc crystal structures <111> is the most densely-packed direction but there is no
maximum densely-packed plane comparable to the {111} planes in the fcc crystals.

The most densely-packed planes are the {110} planes although the packing density is only
slightly different from the {112} and {123} planes.

In bcc crystals besides {110}<111> frequently

also {112}<111> and {123}<111> slip systems
are observed.

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 Slip systems in bcc crystals

In some cases it happens that there is no defined slip plane but only a defined slip
direction: {hkl}{111} slip or "pencil glide”.

Taylor G I and Elam C F 1926 The Distortion of Iron Crystals Proc. R. Soc. A Math. Phys. Eng. Sci. 112 337–61
19
Slip systems in hcp crystals

In hexagonal crystals the most densely packed directions is < 112$0 > , but the most
densely packed plane depends on the c/a ratio:

• For c/a>=1.63, (0001) plane or the basal plane is the most

densly packed plane (3 slip systems)

• For c/a<1.63, the basal plane is not the most densely packed
plane any more, but comparable to the prism and pyramidal
planes. In this case slip can also occur on the prism and
pyramidal planes

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The Critical Resolved Shear Stress (CRSS)
• The yield stress sy varies if single crystals of different orientations are deformed.
• A dislocation moves when it becomes subject to a force which has a component
parallel to the slip plane in the slip direction. Hence, it is not the applied tensile
stress, rather the resolved shear stress in the slip system that causes dislocation
motion.

𝐹 cos 𝜆 𝐹
𝜏= = cos 𝜆 cos 𝜅 = 𝜎 cos 𝜆 cos 𝜅
𝐴 𝐴
cos 𝜅

The factor m=cosl.cosk is called Schmid-

factor and assumes values 0 ≤ 𝑚 ≤ 0.5 for
tensile deformation.

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The Critical Resolved Shear Stress (CRSS)

Dislocation motion occurs if the force on the dislocation and, correspondingly, the
resolved shear stress exceeds a critical value t0.
This critical shear stress is the same for all slip systems.
If the measured yield stress is plotted versus 1/m, one obtains a straight line through
the origin, i.e. t0= const.

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 Schmid's Law

With Schmid's law the active slip systems of a single crystal can be determined.
The slip system with the highest Schmid-factor will reach the critical resolved shear
stress first and, therefore, carry the plastic deformation.

For tensile stress applied in the [001]-[011]-[-111] unit triangle, the most highly
stressed slip system (highest Schmid factor) has a (111) slip plane and a [-101]
slip direction.
W. F. Hosford. The mechanics of crystals and textured polycrystals 23
Schmid's Law
active slip systems
Single, double and multiple slip

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Schmid's Law
active slip systems
In addition to the primary slip system in a given triangle, there are systems with
smaller resolved shear stresses. Particular names are given to some of these.

Pr: Primary
Co: Conjugate Co
Cross Pr CP
Cr: Critical
CP: Co-planar
Cr
Cross: Cross slip system
CP

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Crystal rotation during deformation

The slip process induces crystal lattice rotation, which will bring the crystal in a
position corresponding to the strain forced upon it, e.g. in tension the active slip
direction approaches the tensile axis. Thus the Schmid-factor changes.
This can lead to the initiation of slip on a different system.

Akhtar S. Khan, Continuum Theory of Plasticity 26

 Crystal rotation during deformation

This rotation is represented by the rotation of the tensile axis relative to the
crystal lattice in the standard stereographic projection.

-101

-112

001 011

W. F. Hosford. The mechanics of crystals and textured polycrystals 27