Movement of Dislocations

Glissile and prismatic dislocation loops

Plastic strain through movement of dislocations
Glide and climb
Lattice resistance to glide: Peierls stress
Kinks and jogs
Movement of dislocations with kinks and jogs
Generation of dislocations
Frank-Read mechanism, cross-slip

References:
Hull and Bacon, Chs. 3.4-3.9, 10
Allen and Thomas, Ch. 5, pp. 283-294

University of Virginia, MSE 6020: Defects and Microstructure in Materials, Leonid Zhigilei

Review of some of the dislocation properties

Dislocation lines can not end within a crystal they originate on surfaces, grain boundaries,
dislocation nodes, etc., or form dislocation loops
Dislocation movement:
Edge dislocation moves || to shear direction
Screw dislocation moves to shear direction
Example: expansion of a glissile dislocation loop
line tension:

T=

Wdisl

Gb 2
Gb
L
2
2

r
b

dR

balance of energy due to the increase of the dislocation line by L and work done by the external
stress to increase the slip area by S: bS = TL

L = 2( R + dR ) 2R = 2dR

b 2RdR T 2dR

T
Gb

bR 2 R

S = ( R + dR ) 2 R 2 2RdR

for a dislocation loop of radius R to expand, the external stress should

exceed the critical value c
critical stress decreases as the radius of the loop increases

University of Virginia, MSE 6020: Defects and Microstructure in Materials, Leonid Zhigilei

Glissile and prismatic dislocation loops

r
b
r
b
glissile dislocation loop
(b is within the plane of the loop)
prismatic loop can be formed by condensation of
vacancies in a material with high supersaturation of
vacancies (e.g., due to rapid quenching or irradiation
by energetic particles) b is normal to the plane of
the loop of edge dislocation is formed.

at high T and/or presence of vacancy sinks the

prismatic loops of vacancy type will shrink
at vacancy supersaturation (c > c0) the loops can grows

prismatic loop
(b is not within the plane of the loop)

climb defined by balance of

r
r
Fclimb and Fchem

University of Virginia, MSE 6020: Defects and Microstructure in Materials, Leonid Zhigilei

Prismatic dislocation loops

prismatic loops can be formed from clusters of vacancies or interstitials

disappearance of prismatic dislocation

loops from a thin sheet of Al heated to
102 C in TEM
these are partial dislocations and forces due
to the stacking faults are contributing
(together with the line tension forces) to the
climb forces acting on the dislocations

t = 0 min

t = 213 min

t = 793 min

t = 1301 min

Tartour & Washburn, Phil. Mag. 18, 1257, 1968

University of Virginia, MSE 6020: Defects and Microstructure in Materials, Leonid Zhigilei

Plastic strain through movement of dislocations

Plastic deformation is directly related to the motion of mobile dislocations
dislocations glide under stress as
shown by arrows
when a dislocation moves distance d
across the slip plane, it contributes b
to the total displacement D
if N dislocations cross the crystal,
plastic deformation would be
= D / h = Nb / h
a dislocation can also moves a distance xi < d and stop due to an obstacle, resulting in incomplete
b N
slip - a contribution to the total displacement is a fraction xi/d of b. Thus, in general,
D =

D
b
=
h
hd

i =1

xi = b m x

where

x=

1
N

x
i =1

m = Nl / hld
strain rate: & d / dt = b m v + b & m x b m v

i =1

xi

- average distance covered by a dislocation

- density of mobile dislocations
where v is the average dislocation velocity

University of Virginia, MSE 6020: Defects and Microstructure in Materials, Leonid Zhigilei

Plastic strain through movement of dislocations

strain rate: & = b m v - this equation is also applicable to screw and mixed dislocations
and to the plastic strain due to climb

xi

xx

if a dislocation climbs a distance of xi, it

contributes bxi/d to the displacement h
the total plastic tensile strain is then:
h
b
=
=
h
hd

x
i =1

= b m x

& = b m v climb

xx

order of magnitude estimation of the maximum strain rate

14
15
2
at large stresses, most of the dislocations can be mobile: m 10 10 m

dislocation velocity cannot exceed speed of sound: v 3000 m/s

m = 10 m , v = 10 m/s, b = 3 10
14

-2

-10

m & = b m v = 3 10 7 s 1

the length doubles

in ~310-8 s = 30 ns

real strain rates & 10 4 s 1 relatively small m can explain even the fastest plastic deformation
University of Virginia, MSE 6020: Defects and Microstructure in Materials, Leonid Zhigilei

Glide vs. Climb

Glide/slip: conservative movement within the slip plane
Climb: non-conservative movement away from the slip plane
r
t
lets consider a dislocation AB that moves to AB in the direction

r r r
n = l t
r r
b n
r r
b n
r r
b n

r
b

- surface normal

= 0 - conservative motion, glide

> 0 - addition of material
< 0 - removal of material

climb

r
t

r
n
r
t

r
l

r
l

example:
- positive climb
crystal shrinks in direction parallel to slip plane
results from compressive strain

r
t
r
l

in general, volume change due to climb is

r
b

r r r
n = l t

r r
b n < 0

r r r r r r
V = b l t = b l t

University of Virginia, MSE 6020: Defects and Microstructure in Materials, Leonid Zhigilei

Glide vs. Climb

(1) slip: conservative movement of dislocations perpendicular to b l, i.e., within the slip plane
the motion is reversible - if the sign of is reversed, the dislocation can move in the
opposite direction and eventually restore the original configuration
movement does not involve point defects
an edge or mixed dislocation has only one slip plane defined by b and l
for screw dislocation, the number of slip planes is defined by its orientation and structure
of the crystal (typically 2-4 easy slip planes)
motion of a screw dislocation is always conservative
(2) climb: non-conservative movement of dislocations away from the slip plane
the motion cannot be easily reversed - simple change of sign of does not reverse the
process since additional work has to be done to create point defects
movement is only possible with the help of point defects (vacancies or interstitials)
climb is slow (involves diffusion of point defects) and has a strong dependence on T
direct contribution of climb to the deformation rate & = b v climb is typically small (except
for mostly screw dislocation with small edge segments - jogs)
climb plays an important role in plastic deformation since it enable dislocations circumvent
otherwise insurmountable obstacles
University of Virginia, MSE 6020: Defects and Microstructure in Materials, Leonid Zhigilei

Lattice resistance to glide: Peierls stress

periodicity of lattice translates into the periodic variation of energy as a function of displacement
of the dislocation core along a direction of high symmetry - Peierls-Nabarro potential
approximate evaluation:

Gb 2
2a
exp
WP =

K
Kb

W
2x
W = W0 P cos

2
b
F
1 dW
W
P = max =
= 2P
b
b dx max
b

WP
0

energyminimum

2b

highenergystate

3b

energyminimum

G
2a
P = exp

K
Kb
K = 1 for screw dislocation
K = 1 - for edge dislocations

(W and WP are per unit length)

assuming a = b, = 1/3, K = 2/3 (edge): P 1.2 10-4 G << 0 G/6 G/30

slip tend to occur in most widely spaced planes (large a) and for small b
University of Virginia, MSE 6020: Defects and Microstructure in Materials, Leonid Zhigilei

Lattice resistance to glide: Peierls stress

the dependence of P on b/a is very strong, e.g. changing b/a from 1 to 1.5 increases P from
1.210-4 G to 2.810-3 G, i.e., 23 times only a small number of slip systems with large a and
small b are normally activated
WP and P are larger for materials with angular dependence of interatomic interactions and
smaller for spherically-symmetric long-range interactions:
for fcc and hcp P 10-6 - 10-5 G (dissociation into partials additionally reduce P)
for bcc (mixed type of bonding) P ~ 10-4 G
for covalent materials P ~ 10-2 G
edge dislocations tend to be more mobile than screw ones, e.g.,
a = b, K = 2/3 (edge): P 1.2 10-4 G
a = b, K = 1 (screw): P 1.9 10-3 G
Peierls energy landscape defines special low core energy
directions in which the dislocation prefers to lie
if dislocation is unable to lie in one minima of the Peierls
potential, it forms kinks that cross from one minimum to the
next one - these are geometrically necessary kinks
shape/width of a kink is defined by a balance of Wdisl and WP
University of Virginia, MSE 6020: Defects and Microstructure in Materials, Leonid Zhigilei

University of Virginia, MSE 6020: Defects and Microstructure in Materials, Leonid Zhigilei

University of Virginia, MSE 6020: Defects and Microstructure in Materials, Leonid Zhigilei

Peierls potential and shape of dislocations

Low-energy configuration of a dislocation is defined by 3 factors:
(1) due to the line energy/tension (Wdisl ~ L), dislocations tend to be straight
(2) due to the lower energy of screw components (Wdisl ~ 1/K), screw segments tend to be longer
(3) due to the Peierls energy landscape (WP), dislocations tend to lie along closely-packed
directions for which the core energy is lowest (and P is highest)

Gb 3
per length of b: Wdisl (L = b )
2

Gb 3
2a
4
3
exp
WP b =
6 10 Gb
K
Kb
(for a = b, K = 1)
usually, WP << Wdisl / L
Frank-Read source in a Si crystal
the dislocation lines tend to lie along <110>
directions, where the core has lower energy

from Hull and Bacon

what is the direction of the Burgers

vector in this image?

University of Virginia, MSE 6020: Defects and Microstructure in Materials, Leonid Zhigilei

Dislocation motion by kinks

Kinks are steps of atomic dimension in the dislocation line
that are contained in the glide plane of the dislocation

< P

The barrier to move a kink along the line is much smaller

(WP2 << WP) and for metals with predominantly metallic
bonding is negligible lateral motion of kinks can take
place at low << P small plastic strain (pre-yield
microplasticity)
Kinks on a screw dislocation is a short segment with edge
character screw dislocation with a kink can slide in only
one glide plane (the one that contain the kink). If it glides in
a different plane, the kink serves as an anchor point for the
screw dislocation.
Motion of kinks can be studied in internal friction experiments (measurements of energy losses in
a vibrating material): small oscillating stresses can generate reversible movement of kinks - since
there is no irreversible deformation, the vibrations are still in the elastic regime. Frequency
dependence of the elastic response contains information about the kinks.

University of Virginia, MSE 6020: Defects and Microstructure in Materials, Leonid Zhigilei

Dislocation motion by double kink formation

< P

Double kinks can form spontaneously due to thermal

fluctuations. Nucleation of a double kink corresponds
to an energy increase:
4

Wdk = 2Wkink b 2l

work done by

Wdk
l

=0

l0 = b

l =l0

Gb
2(1 )l

work against
attraction of the kinks

G
>> b
2(1 )

Wdkmax = Wdk (l = l0 ) = 2Wkink 2b 3

G
2Wkink
2(1 )

Si

Ge

Bi

Fe

Cu

Ag

Al

Wkink , eV 2.2

1.5

0.31

0.2

0.1

0.085

0.09

WP b, eV 0.45 0.23

0.01

0.004

0.001

0.0007

0.0008

The effect of lattice resistance to is only significant at low T

rate of nucleation:
2Wkink
R 0 exp
k BT

0 1012 s 1

Double kink nucleation plays a role at low . At higher dislocations can move without help of
double kink formation
University of Virginia, MSE 6020: Defects and Microstructure in Materials, Leonid Zhigilei

Climb of mostly screw dislocation with small edge segments

Lets consider a dislocation in a simple cubic lattice that consists of long screw segments of
length ls >> a and short edge segments of length le ~ a
z
the screw segments have 2 slip planes, (001) and (100)
l
the edge segments are simply one (le = a) or two (le = 2a)
rows of atoms located above the edge segments along zaxis these segments can only glide in [010] direction
in (001) plane

r
b

motion in [001] direction would require climb of all edge segments by a. Such climb would
allow the whole dislocation to move up by a the effective climb velocity can be large
eff
2
if the rate of vacancy absorption per unit length is n& , the effective climb velocity is v climb = a n&

ls
le

edge
= a 2 n&
this climb velocity can be much larger than the climb velocity of an edge dislocation: v climb

jogs

r
b

eff
v climb
= a 2 n&

vacancies

ls
edge
= v climb
ctg ( )
le

active climb can result in substantial increase in the

concentration of point defects, typically vacancies (c > c0)

University of Virginia, MSE 6020:

Defects and
Microstructure
in Materials,
Zhigileiof vacancies)
(the example
in this
page is for absorption,
ratherLeonid
than emission

Kinks and Jogs

Real dislocations are not straight - they always contain kinks and jogs
Kinks and jogs are steps of atomic dimension in the dislocation line
Kinks are contained in the glide plane of the dislocation
Jogs are not contained in the glide plane of the dislocation

jog
y

kink
x

kinks in edge and screw dislocations

Jogs always form during climb. Climb

proceeds by movement of jogs through
emission or absorption of point defects.
climb by emission of interstitials

jogs in edge and screw dislocations

University of Virginia, MSE 6020: Defects and Microstructure in Materials, Leonid Zhigilei

Effect of kinks and jogs on dislocation motion

Kinks:
Kinks do not impede glide of the dislocation in the plane of the kink, on the contrary, double kink
formation can help dislocation to move at < P
A screw dislocation with a kink can glide in a specific glide plane (the glide plane of the kink)
in other planes the kink serves as an anchor point for the screw dislocation
Jogs:
Jogs of screw dislocations have edge character and can only glide along the line movement in
other directions involves climb jogs impede glide and results in the generation of point defects
(mostly vacancies since Evf < Eif)
Generation of kinks and jogs:
Geometrical kinks, thermally activated generation of double kinks
Generation of jogs by absorption or emission of point defects in response
to Fchem (super-/under-saturation of point defects)
Intersection of dislocations
when two dislocations
intersect, each acquires a jog
equal in direction and length
to b of the other dislocation

r
b2

r
b1

r
b1

r
b2

University of Virginia, MSE 6020: Defects and Microstructure in Materials, Leonid Zhigilei

Motion of dislocations with super-jogs

When a point defect is created, the jogs moves forward one atomic
spacing, ~b, resulting in work done by being b2ls
If the point defect formation energy is Ef, the critical stress to move
the dislocation can be obtained from the energy balance: 0 = E f / b 2ls

ls

for a segment of length ls the maximum stress is c

r
b

r
b

r
b

r
b

Gb Gb
=
2 R ls

small (atomic) jog: c > 0 screw drags the jog along, creating
a trail of vacancies (or, less likely, interstitials)

longer jog: n point defects have to be generated for each step

forward, c < 0 = nEf/b2ls a dipole of edge dislocations of
opposite sign is formed.

even longer jog: the interaction between the dislocations in the

dipole is weaker and the two edge segments can pass each other
two parts of the dislocation move independently from each
other.

University of Virginia, MSE 6020: Defects and Microstructure in Materials, Leonid Zhigilei

Jogs and prismatic loops

Prismatic loops can form
(1) by condensation of point defects, e.g., the ones generated by the plastic deformation
(interstitials can diffuse and self-organize into loops at lower T as compared to vacancies)
(2) pinch-off of dislocation dipoles formed during propagation of screw dislocations with jogs or
interaction between edge/mixed dislocations

r
b

r
b

r
b

(3) formation of loops due to multiple cross-slip (e.g., interaction of dislocations with obstacles)
III

r
b

II
II
I

III
II

II
I

University of Virginia, MSE 6020: Defects and Microstructure in Materials, Leonid Zhigilei

Interaction of dislocations with obstacles

Orowan mechanism
shear loop is formed

from Hull and Bacon

Hirsch mechanism
cross-slip occurs 2-3 times, leading to formation of prismatic loops

University of Virginia, MSE 6020: Defects and Microstructure in Materials, Leonid Zhigilei

Molecular dynamics simulations of dislocation - precipitate interactions in Al(2139) alloy

AlCu5Mg0.5Ag0.4 (Mn)
CuAl2 phase has hexagonal plate-like shape
with broad face aligned along the Al (111) planes
Thickness < 6 nm
350
strain rate 10

300

250
Shear stress / MPa

pinning of dislocation and

release via cutting:
combination of Orowan and
cutting mechanisms

200
150
100
50
0
-50

D.W. Brenner,
L. Sun, and
M.A. Zikry,
NCSU

0.000

0.005

0.010

0.015

0.020

0.025

Shear Strain

University of Virginia, MSE 6020: Defects and Microstructure in Materials, Leonid Zhigilei

Generation and multiplication of dislocations

Although there are no equilibrium dislocations at any T, dislocations are always present in
crystals. They are introduced during crystal growth (e.g., due to internal stresses generated by
impurity particles, T, condensation of point defects into prismatic loops, at interfaces).
It is difficult to reduce dislocation density below ~1010 m-2
Plastic deformation results in a rapid increase in dislocation density up to ~1014 - 1015 m-2
Mechanisms of dislocation multiplication
include: Frank-Read source, multiple crossslip, emission of dislocation from grain
boundaries, etc.
Simulation of Frank-Read source using Dislocation
Dynamics method
http://zig.onera.fr/DisGallery/index.html

> Gb/Rmin
University of Virginia, MSE 6020: Defects and Microstructure in Materials, Leonid Zhigilei