Disclinations in transversely isotropic media. I. Rectangular wedge disclination loops

Abstract

1. Anisotropy of the material elastic properties leads to the significant difference of the wedge disclination loop elastic behaviour between transversely isotropic media and isotropic analogue. 2. A rectangular-shaped disclination loop is a convenient object for investigation of the effect of elastic anisotropy on the disclination properties since in this particular case the elastic fields, strain energy and interaction energies are calculated in analytical form. 3. In highly anisotropic media the probability of a single wedge loop formation strongly decreases in contrast to twist loops with this probability on the level with isotropic analogue. The interaction between coaxial wedge loops considerably increases in such a medium and spreads along theC axis by a factor of 6 farther than in the isotropic case. The given circumstance can call forth favourable conditions for the formation of pairs of wedge disclination loops with opposite signs.