The Determination of Stacking Fault Energy by the Tetrahedron Method

Abstract

At present there are three methods for obtaining values of the stacking fault energy y of face-centred cubic (f.c.c.) materials by direct observation of dislocationstacking fault configurations in the electron microscope. These are based on measurements of extended three-fold dislocation nodes (e.g. Whelan 1958; Brown and ThOlen 1964), faulted dipole configurations (e.g. Haussermann and Wilkens 1966; Steeds 1967), and triangular Frank dislocation loops and stacking fault tetrahedral (e.g. Silcox and Hirsch 1959; Loretto, Clarebrough, and Segall 1965). The main advantages of the third method over the other two are that it is applicable to materials of a very wide range of stacking fault energy and involves only simple length measurements of defects that are easily recognized. However, it has suffered from the disadvantage that the values of y deduced from these measurements relied on an incomplete theory. The present authors have reconsidered this problem and, subject to the limitations of isotropic linear elasticity, have taken into account the major variables that may affect the values of y. It is the purpose of this note to present the results of this theory in a form in which values of y may easily be obtained from measurements of Frank dislocation loops and stacking fault tetrahedral without the resources of a large digital computer.