11/24/2023

Chapter 7:
Dislocations and
Strengthening Mechanisms

ISSUES TO ADDRESS...

• Why are dislocations observed primarily in metals and alloys?

• How are strength and dislocation motion related?

• How do we increase strength?

• How can heating change strength and other properties?

Dislocations and Plastic Deformation

Dislocation is a linear crystalline defect around which there is atomic

misalignment (localized lattice distortion).

[Link] dislocations [Link] dislocation [Link] dislocations

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Dislocations and Plastic Deformation

Dislocation line and Burger vector

➢ Dislocation line (t): The line that extends along the end of the extra half plane of atoms
for the edge dislocation and along the center of the spiral of a screw dislocation

➢ Burgers vector (b): A vector that denotes the magnitude and direction of lattice
distortion associated with a dislocation

𝑏
𝑡Ԧ

Dislocations and Plastic Deformation

Plastic deformation

Plastic deformation happens by sliding of planes of atoms

✓ Breaking of all interatomic bonds between plane which would require a

tremendous external stresses

Sliding of planes

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Dislocations and Plastic Deformation

Dislocations & plastic deformation

Dislocations and Plastic Deformation

Dislocations & plastic deformation

Large variation between predicted (theoretical) strength and actual (measured)
strength was used to account for presence of dislocations by Taylor, Polanyi, and
Orowan in 1934. Dislocations allow for consecutive (rather than simultaneous)
breakage of atomic bonds, requiring lower stress for onset of plastic deformation
The first observations of dislocations by transmission electron microscopy
(TEM) were published in 1956.

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Dislocations and Plastic Deformation

Dislocation density
All metals and alloys contain some dislocations that were introduced during
solidification, during plastic deformation, and as a consequence of thermal
stresses that result from rapid cooling.

Dislocation density is expressed as:

The total dislocation length per unit volume

Dislocations and Plastic Deformation

Characterization of dislocation

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Dislocations and Plastic Deformation

Characterization of dislocation

Dislocation generation

Frank read source

Dislocations and Plastic Deformation

Plastic deformation in metals

Plastic deformation corresponds to the motion of large numbers of dislocations

Slip: The process of dislocation motion that produces plastic deformation

Dislocation moves along slip plane in slip direction

perpendicular to dislocation line ( slip system)
Slip direction have the same direction as Burgers vector

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Dislocations and Plastic Deformation

Geometric properties of dislocations

Types of dislocation
Dislocation property
Edge Screw
Relation between dislocation ꓕ ‖
line (t) and b
Slip direction ‖ to b ‖ to b

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Slip in Materials

Slipping Mechanism
Slip System
– Slip plane – plane along which the dislocation line traverses
• plane allowing easiest slippage
• highest planar densities
– Slip direction - direction of movement - Highest linear densities

– FCC Slip occurs on {111} planes (close-packed) in <110> directions (close-packed)

=> total of 12 slip systems in FCC
– in BCC & HCP other slip systems occur

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Slip in Single Crystals

Slip Systems

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Slip in Single Crystals

A characteristic shear stress is required for slip

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Slip in Single Crystals

Schmid law

Slip occurs when the resolved shear stress reaches a critical value,
known as the critical resolved shear stress.

τrss: The shear component of the stress

resolved along a specific plane and φ
direction within that plane. 

τcrss: The required shear stress to

initiate slip.

Schmid law:

Slip occurs when τrss ≥ τcrss

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Slip in Single Crystals

Schmid factor

Applied tensile Resolved shear Relation between

stress: s = F/A stress: tR =Fs /A s s and tR
F
A
slip plane
tR tR =FS /AS
normal, ns
AS Fcos  A/cos φ
nS φ
FS
F
 A
F tR FS AS

τrss= Fs/As=σ cosλ.cosφ =Angle between load and slip direction

φ= Angle between load and slip plane

Schmid factor

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Slip in Single Crystals

Schmid factor t R (max )  t CRSS

• Condition for dislocation motion:
Critical resolved shear stress: is the minimum shear typically
stress required to initiate slip and is a property of the material 10-4 GPa to 10-2 GPa
that determine when yielding occurs

• Crystal orientation can make it easy or hard to tR = s cos  cos 

move dislocation
s s s

tR = 0 tR = s/2 tR = 0
 =90°  =45°  =90°
 =45°

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Deformation by Twinning

✓ For slip, the crystallographic

orientation above and below the
slip plane is the same both before
and after the deformation;
✓ Slip occurs in distinct atomic
spacing multiples, whereas the
atomic displacement for twinning
is less than the interatomic
separation

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Slip in Polycrystalline Materials

Plastic deformation of polycrystalline materials s

Polycrystalline metals are stronger than their single-

crystal

• Grain boundaries pin deformations

• Slip planes & directions (λ, φ) change from one

crystal to another.

• τR will vary from one crystal to another.

• The crystal with the largest τR yields first.

• Other (less favorably oriented) crystals yield later.

300 mm

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Slip in Polycrystalline Materials

Anisotropy in Deformation
1. Cylinder of 2. Fire cylinder 3. Deformed
Tantalum at a target. cylinder
machined
from a
rolled plate:
rolling direction

end plate
thickness
view direction
• The noncircular end view shows
anisotropic deformation of rolled material.

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Mechanisms of Strengthening in Metals

1- Grain Size Reduction

• Grain boundaries are

barriers to slip.
• Barrier "strength"
increases with
Increasing angle of
misorientation.
• Smaller grain size:
more barriers to slip.

• Hall-Petch Equation: s yield = so + k y d −1 / 2

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Mechanisms of Strengthening in Metals

2- Solid Solutions

• Impurity atoms distort the lattice & generate stress.

• Stress can produce a barrier to dislocation motion.
• Smaller substitutional • Larger substitutional
impurity impurity

A C

B D

Impurity generates local stress at A and Impurity generates local stress at C and
B that opposes dislocation motion to the D that opposes dislocation motion to the
right. right.

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Mechanisms of Strengthening in Metals

2- Solid Solutions (Strengthening by alloying)

❖ small impurities tend to concentrate at dislocations
❖ reduce mobility of dislocation  increase strength

✓ Possible locations of smaller

impurity atoms relative to an
edge dislocation such that there is
partial cancellation of impurity
(dislocation lattice strains)

✓ Possible locations of larger

impurity atoms relative to an
edge dislocation such that there is
partial cancellation of impurity
(dislocation lattice strain)

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Mechanisms of Strengthening in Metals

2- Solid Solutions (Strengthening by alloying)

• Tensile strength & yield strength increase with wt% Ni.

180
Tensile strength (MPa)

Yield strength (MPa)

400
120
300

200 60
0 10 20 30 40 50 0 10 20 30 40 50
wt.% Ni, (Concentration C) wt.%Ni, (Concentration C)

• Empirical relation: sy ~ C1/ 2

• Alloying increases σy and TS.

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Mechanisms of Strengthening in Metals

3- Precipitation Strengthening
• Hard precipitates are difficult to shear.
Ex: Ceramics in metals (SiC in Iron or Aluminum).
precipitate

Side View to move dislocation toward

Unslipped part of slip plane

Top View
“advances” but

“pinning” sites with

S spacing
Slipped part of slip plane

1
• Result: sy ~
S

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Mechanisms of Strengthening in Metals

3- Precipitation Strengthening
• Internal wing structure on Boeing 767

• Aluminum is strengthened with precipitates formed

by alloying.

1.5mm

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Mechanisms of Strengthening in Metals

4- Strain Hardening
• Room temperature deformation.
• Common forming operations change the cross sectional area:

-Forging force -Rolling

roll
die Ad
A o blank Ad Ao
roll

-Drawing force -Extrusion

Ao
die Ad container die holder
Ao tensile force
force ram billet extrusion Ad
die container die
Ao − Ad
%CW = x 100
Ao

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Mechanisms of Strengthening in Metals

4- Strain Hardening

As cold work is increased:

• Yield strength (σy) increases.
• Tensile strength (TS) increases.
n is the strain-hardening exponent • Ductility (%EL or %AR) decreases.

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Mechanisms of Strengthening in Metals

4- Strain Hardening
• Ti alloy after cold working:

• Dislocations entangle with one

another during cold work.
• Dislocation motion becomes
more difficult.

0.9 mm

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Mechanisms of Strengthening in Metals

4- Strain Hardening
800
-200C
σ- ε Behavior vs. Temperature
Stress (MPa)

600
-100C
• Results for 400
polycrystalline iron: 200 25C

0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
Strain
• σy and TS decrease with increasing
test temperature. 3 . disl. glides past obstacle
• %EL increases with increasing test 2. vacancies
replace
temperature. atoms on the
obstacle
• Why? Vacancies help dislocations disl. half
1. disl. trapped
plane
move past obstacles. by obstacle

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Mechanisms of Strengthening in Metals

Effect of Heating After %CW

Results of Cold Work

These properties and structures may revert back
➢ Change in grain shape to the precold-worked states by appropriate
heat treatment
➢ Strain hardening

➢ Increase in dislocation density

• 3 Annealing stages
to discuss...

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Recovery

Annihilation reduces dislocation density.

• Scenario 1 extra half-plane
of atoms Dislocations
Results from annihilate
diffusion atoms
diffuse and form
to regions
a perfect
atomic
of tension
extra half-plane plane.
of atoms
• Scenario 2
3 . “Climbed” disl. can now τR
move on new slip plane
2 . grey atoms leave by
4. opposite dislocations
vacancy diffusion
meet and annihilate
allowing disl. to “climb”
1. dislocation blocked; Obstacle dislocation
can’t move to the right

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Recrystallization

• New grains are formed that:

-- have a small dislocation density
-- are small
-- consume cold-worked grains.

0.6 mm 0.6 mm

33% cold New crystals

worked nucleate after
brass 3 sec. at 580C.

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Recrystallization

• All cold-worked grains are consumed.

0.6 mm 0.6 mm

After 4 After 8
seconds seconds

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Recrystallization

Recrystallization depends on both time and temperature

The higher the temperature, the shorter the time needed to finish
the recrystallization

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Recrystallization

TR = recrystallization temperature:
the temperature at which recrystallization
just reaches completion in 1h.
Pure metals: ~ 0.3 Tm
TR
Some commercial alloys: ~ 0.7 Tm

Pure metals lower TR due to

dislocation movements

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Recrystallization

Cold work percentage

➢ Increasing the percentage of

cold work enhances the rate
of recrystallization.

➢ Critical degree of cold work

below which recrystallization
cannot occur

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Grain Growth

Boundary motion is just the short-range

diffusion of atoms from one side of the
boundary to the other. The directions of
boundary movement and atomic motion
are opposite to each other.

Driving force for grain growth:

Grain size increases

Total grain boundary area decreases

Surface (GB) energy decreases

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Grain Growth

The grain growth proceeds more rapidly as temperature increases which can be
explained by the enhancement of diffusion rate with rising temperature.

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Grain Growth

• At longer times, larger grains consume smaller ones.

• Why? Grain boundary area (and therefore energy)
is reduced.
0.6 mm 0.6 mm

After 8 s, After 15 min,

580ºC 580ºC
coefficient dependent
• Empirical Relation:
on material and T.
exponent typ. ~ 2
grain diam. elapsed time
at time t. dn − d on = Kt

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Design problem

Diameter Reduction Procedure

A cylindrical rod of brass originally 10 mm (0.39 in) in

diameter is to be cold worked by drawing. The circular
cross section will be maintained during deformation. A
cold-worked tensile strength in excess of 380 MPa (55,000
psi) and a ductility of at least 15 %EL are desired.
Furthermore, the final diameter must be 7.5 mm (0.30 in).
Explain how this may be accomplished.

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Design problem

What are the consequences of directly drawing to the final diameter?

Brass
Cold
Work

Do = 10 mm Df = 7.5 mm

 A − Af   A 
%CW =  o  x 100 = 1 − f  x 100
 Ao   Ao 
 D 2 4    7. 5  2 
= 1 − f x 100 = 1 −    x 100 = 43.8%
 D 2   10  
 o 4   

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Design problem

420 540

• For %CW = 43.8% Adapted from Fig. 7.19,

Callister & Rethwisch 8e.
– sy = 420 MPa
– TS = 540 MPa > 380 MPa
– %EL = 6 < 15
• This doesn’t satisfy criteria… what other options are possible?

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Design problem

380 15

12 27

For TS > 380 MPa > 12 %CW

For %EL > 15 < 27 %CW

 our working range is limited to 12 < %CW < 27

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Design problem

Cold work, then anneal, then cold work again

• For objective we need a cold work of 12 < %CW < 27
– We’ll use 20 %CW
• Diameter after first cold work stage (but before 2nd cold
work stage) is calculated as follows:
 D 2 D 2 %CW
%CW = 1 − f 2  x 100  1 − f 2 =
 D 2 D022 100
 02 
0. 5 Df 2
Df 2  %CW  D02 =
= 1 −    %CW 
0 .5
D02  100  1 − 
 100 
0 .5
 20 
Intermediate diameter = Df 1 = D02 = 7.5 mm 1 −  = 8.39 mm
 100 
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Design problem

Stage 1: Cold work – reduce diameter from 10 mm to 8.39 mm

  8.39 mm 2 
%CW1 = 1 −    x 100 = 29.6
  10 mm  
 
Stage 2: Annealing(allow recrystallization)
Stage 3: Cold work – reduce diameter from 8.39 mm to 7.5 mm

  7.5  2  s y = 340 MPa

%CW2 = 1 −   x 100 = 20
  8.49  

  TS = 400 MPa
Therefore, all criteria satisfied %EL = 24

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