Mechanisms controlling the cyclic saturation stress and the critical cross-slip annihilation distance in copper single crystals

Abstract

The proposed model is inspired by Brown’s suggestion that the saturation stress in cycling is controlled by the stress required to separate two screw dislocations of opposite signs, which are just on the point of mutual annihilation by cross-slip. Cross-slip is treated as the deterministic, stress-activated process governed by the line tension, the applied stress and the interaction force between dislocations. The extension of the dislocation cores is neglected. The saturation stress and the critical cross-slip annihilation distance predicted simultaneously by the model agree with the available experimental data.