DislocationsinCrystals

Dislocationsprovidestepwisemotionscaledtothespacingofatoms
incrystals.
LineDefects:DislocationsandtheirScale
Vacancies,
impurities
dislocations

Grainandtwin
boundaries

Voids
Inclusions
precipitates

TheoreticalStrengthofCrystals
Onceitwasestablishedthatcrystalsdeformbysliponspecific
crystallographicsystems,physiciststriedtocalculatethestrengthof
crystals.However,theagreementbetweentheircalculated
strengthandtheexperimentalvalueswereverypoor(orderof
magnitudetoohigh).

Considerthefollowingarrangementshownand
assumethattheindividualplanesdonotdistort
whenashearstressisapplied.Underanapplied
stress,atomswillpasssequentiallythrough
equilibriumpositions(i.e.,A,B,C,etc).Ateach
equilibriumposition,itisassumedthat =0.
Plasticdeformationwilloccurwhentheapplied
shearstress(app)islargeenoughtoovercome
thesebarriers.Atomswillmoveuntiltheplanes
separate(i.e.,fractureoccurs).

Betweenequilibriumpositions, varies
2x
= K sin(
)
cyclically.Assumingthevariationis
b
sinusoidal,wecanexpressitas:
WhereK isaconstantthatdescribesthe
amplitudeoftheshearstress(sinewave)and
x
2x

=
K
=
G
=
G
bistheperiodofthesinewave.

a
b
ForsmalldisplacementsHookes Lawapplies
SolvingforK

b
= Max
K =G
2a

Whereb isthedistancebetweenatomsonlinesof
contactanda isthedistancebetweenplanes
Considerafacecenteredcubic(fcc)crystal.The
relationshipbetweenthelatticeparameter(ao)and
theinterplanar spacing(d)isgivenby:
a
ao
b= o
d=
2
h2 + k 2 + l 2

ForFCCcrystals,shearwilloccurinthe(111)plane

Max

ao 3
G
=G
=
2 ao 2 5.13

Formostcubic
crystalsa andb are
ofthesameorderof
magnitudeand

Max

Max

d=

ao
3

DislocationsLinearDefects
Dislocationsareabruptchangesintheregularorderingofatoms,
alongaline(dislocationline)inthesolid.Theyoccurinhigh density
andareveryimportantinmechanicalpropertiesofmaterial.
TheyarecharacterizedbytheBurgersvector,foundbydoingaloop
aroundthedislocationlineandnoticingtheextrainteratomic
spacingneededtoclosetheloop.TheBurgersvectorinmetals
pointsinaclosepackeddirection.
Edgedislocationsoccurwhenanextraplaneisinserted.The
dislocationlineisattheendoftheplane.Inanedgedislocation,the
Burgersvectorisperpendiculartothedislocationline.
Screwdislocationsresultwhendisplacingplanesrelativetoeach
otherthroughshear.Inthiscase,theBurgersvectorisparalleltothe
dislocationline.

EdgeDislocations
Itcanbevisualizedasanextrahalfplane.

b
G
b
Pointsindirection
ofextrahalfplane

MotionofanEdgeDislocation

Thecaterpillarorrugmovinganalogy

Burgers
Vector=b
Shearstress

Thearrowjoiningthestartingandendingatomsfollowing
thiscircuitistheBurgersvector,denotedby
Twootherdirectionalquantitiescharacterizeadislocation:
thedirectionofmovement..
Andthedirectionoftheline

G
M

Foredgedislocations:

G G
b

G G
M b

G
G
M

G
b

Edgedislocation
conventions

Theshearstresstomaintainmotionof
anisolateddislocationinanabsolutely
purecrystalwithnonearbydislocations
iscalledthePeierls stress.
Itsvalueisestimatedat~108G,whichisseveralordersofmagnitude
lowerthanthemeasuredstressneedtosustainslipinannealedmetals.
Thepresenceofotherdislocationsandofimpuritiesrangingfromatoms
tolargeagglomeratesisresponsiblefortheactualstressrequiredto
causeslipinrealcrystals.

ScrewDislocations

G
b

Forascrewdislocation:

G G
b //

G G
M b

G G
M //

Directionofscrewdislocation
line
b

Burgers
Vector
Ofscrew

screwmovesthisway

ThemagnitudeoftheBurgers
vector,b,forthesimplecubic
lattice,whetherscreworedge,
isequaltothelatticeparameter
ao,theslipdirectionis[100],
andtheslipplaneinwhichit
movesis(100). Thenotationfor
thisBurgersvectoris: G

bSC = ao [100](100)

wherethefirsttermontherightisthemagnitude
ofb,thesecondisthedirection ofb andthelast
termdesignatestheslipplane.

MixedDislocations
Theexactstructureofdislocations
inrealcrystalsisusuallymore
complicatedthantheonesshown.
Edgeandscrewdislocationsarejust
extremeformsofthepossible
dislocationstructures.Most
dislocationshavemixededge/screw
character.
Toaddtothecomplexityofreal
defectstructures,dislocationare
oftensplitin"partial dislocations
thathavetheircoresspreadout
overalargerarea.

TheBurgersvectorforthemixeddislocationis
neitherperpendicularnorparalleltothe
dislocationlinebutretainsafixedorientation
inspaceconsistentwiththeprevious
definitionsforthepureedgeandscrew
dislocations.Theatomicarrangementarounda
mixeddislocationisdifficulttovisualizebutthe
Burgersvectorprovidesaconvenientand
usefuldescription.

TEMimageofthedislocationstructureinatitaniumalloymagnified
50,000times.FromW.D.Callister,Jr.,MaterialsScienceandEngineering,
Wiley&Sons(1985)

DislocationLoops
Loopsareclosedcurveswhoseperipheryconsistsofadislocation.
Theloopmayormaynotbeplanar.Therearetwovarieties.Inone
type,theinterioroftheloopconsistsofatomsthathavebeenshifted
byoneBurgersvector.Thecrystalstructureattheinteriorplaneof
theloopisperfect.
Thedistortioncaused
bytheshiftofatomsis
accommodatedbythe
peripheraldislocation.
Thistypeofloopis
calledashearloop
becauseitisproduced
bytheactionofashear
stressontheslipplane.

Thedislocationthatforms
theperipheryoftheshear
loopismosteasily
understoodbyconsidering
thelooptobeasquare
ratherthanacircleonthe
slipplane.Themagnitude
oftheshiftisoneatomic
spacinginasimplecubic
structureorthemagnitude
oftheBurgersvectorfor
othercrystaltypes.

Aremarkablefeatureoftheloop,whetheritbesquareorcircular,planarornon
planar,isthatitischaracterizedbyasingleBurgersvector.TheBurgersvectoris
perpendiculartothepureedgeportionsoftheloopandparallel tothepurescrew
components.Onlythedirectionsofb arereversedbetweenthenegativeand
positiveedgeportionsandtherighthandandlefthandparts.Whenashearstress
isappliedtotheslipplane,theloopexpandsoutwardonallsides.

Theothertype,theloopisformedbytheremoval/additionofadiskof
atomsfrom/betweenclosepackedatomicplanes.Theperipheryof
theseloopsarealsodislocations.Thistypeofloopiscalleda prismatic
loop.Thistypeisfundamentallydifferentfromtheshearloop;theonly
featuresthetwotypeshaveincommonistheircircularshapeandtheir
abilitytoexpandorcontractradially.
Theinterstitialloopconsistsofadiskshapedlayer(seenendoninthe
figure)ofatomsformedbyassemblingfreeinterstitialatomsfromthe
bulksolid.Theatomlayeragglomerationisthermodynamicallymore
stablethanthesamenumberofatomsdispersedinthelatticeas self
interstitials.

Vacancyloopsareformedbythe
collapseofadiskofvacanciesona
closepackedplane.Incommonwith
theinterstitialloop,theperipheryof
thevacancyloopisacircularedge
dislocationwithaBurgersvector
perpendiculartotheplaneoftheloop.
However,theBurgersvectorsofthe
twotypesareofoppositesign.

Prismaticloop(Interstitial)

Prismaticloop(Vacancy)

Dislocationscanannihilateoneanother!
Nonoverlappingedgescreatevacancies.
Overlappingedgescreateinterstitials.

Almostcomplete
planeofatoms

Slipplane

vacancies

Slipplane

Nonoverlapping

Overlapping

Slipplane
Slipplane

Extraatoms
gointointerstitial

ClimbandCrossSlipsofdislocations
Dislocationsarecapableofleaveitsslipplaneviatwomechanisms:a
dislocationclimb(foredgedislocations)andcrossslip(forscrew
dislocations.
Thepresenceofobstaclesinthesolidsuchasprecipitates,voids,grain
boundariesandothers,caneffectivelyhaltdislocationglide(orslip).Ifa
mobiledislocationispushedbyashearstressintooneofthese
obstructions,oneofthreeeventsoccur:
1.Themobiledislocationisstopped
2.Themobiledislocationliterallycutsthrough theobstacle
3.Themobiledislocationmovestoanotherslipplanethatisparallelto
theoriginalslipplane,onwhichitcancontinuetoglide.
Theabilityofadislocationtoevadetheobstaclesinitspathis
crucialtoplasticdeformation;ifdislocationsdidnotpossessthis
flexibility,theywouldquicklybecomeimmobile.

Prismaticloops

FromHallandBacon4thEd

Foranedgedislocation,movementfromoneslipplanetoaparallel
onerequiresmovementcallclimb.Inthismechanism,theextrahalf
planeofatomsthatconstitutesthedislocationliterallygrowsor
shrinks.Itdoessobyabsorbingvacanciesorinterstitialsfrom the
bulksolid.

Becauseclimbrequiresmobilityofvacanciesinthelattice,itisactive
onlyathightemperatures(say1/3ofthemeltingpointandhigher)
whilesliphasnotemperaturedependenceandisthesolemechanism
ofedgedislocationmovementatroomtemperature.

DislocationDensity
Todefinethequantityofdislocationswithinamaterial,thedislocation
densityisgivenas:
=

Total Length of the dislocations L Number of Dislocations N

=
=
=
Volume
V
Area
A

ConsidertheTEMshowing20
dislocationstakenfromafoil200nm
thick.Thetotalareaofthemicrograph
is1.5mand1.25mandthetotal
lengthofthedislocationsisabout
15m
L
15 106
13 2
=
m
=
=

4
10
6
6
9
V 1.5 10 1.25 10 200 10
N
20
13 2
= =
=
1
.
1

10
m
6
6
A 1.5 10 1.25 10