Principles Underlying the Behavior of Passing Dislocations

Abstract

The equilibrium configurations of passing dislocations on parallel slip planes are analyzed in terms of their stability. It was found that some of the solutions obtained in the literature correspond to unstable force equilibria and they can be recognized as such from the positive slopes in the force‐distance curves. Frictional forces make such equilibrium positions stable, and the extent of the stability depends on the magnitude of the frictional forces. With the requirement that a dislocation moves with zero acceleration and with a constant potential energy, the external stress is continuously monitored while the dislocation continuously moves through the stable and unstable equilibrium configurations. The behavior of two and four dislocations on parallel slip planes is analyzed, but the results can be extended to more complex arrays.