Plastic Flow of Crystals

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of plastic flow of crystals. Plastic flow under multiple slip, particularly in metallic crystals, has been widely studied by materials scientists and applied mechanicians since the early 1900s. Finite strain crystal plasticity is a rigorous nonlinear continuum theory. With few exceptions, subtleties of this theory such as multislip hardening and non-Schmid effects have not been tested sufficiently in critical experiments. In particular, through the interplay between small secondary slips and hardening, there is now compelling evidence that important effects largely have been ignored. Furthermore, because intermetallic compounds are currently of growing interest in high-temperature applications, non-Schmid effects, which are also important in BCC metals and alloys, should also be considered more seriously. In this chapter, recent studies of multiple-slip interactions and hardening are brought together within a time-independent theory, and their influence on strain localization is explored. It discusses in detail about yield behavior including non-Schmid effects. Flow behavior including non-Schmid effects is elaborated. Concepts of hardening behavior and strain localization are also explained in the chapter.