Chemical Kinetics of Plastic Deformation

Abstract

An argument is presented in which it is shown that the deformation process in a crystal is identical with the isomerization of a giant molecule and that the study of plastic flow is part of chemical kinetics. This view leads to a general expression for the rate constant which describes the kinetics of the thermally activated dislocation movement associated with a system of consecutive and parallel energy barriers. The application of the kinetic equation is illustrated with several specific examples.