Rearrangements of dislocations in stainless steel during electropolishing

Abstract

A technique is described for studying the rearrangement of dislocations in stainless steel during thinning by electropolishing and subsequent handling of the specimens. The foils are thinned from one side and dislocation movements during or after polishing are revealed by the appearance of single or double slip traces. The results show that less than 20% of the dislocations move after various deformations at room temperature, and that many of the movements are over distances less than the thickness of the foil (∼3000 Å). In the case of dislocations in pile-ups it is generally not possible to determine the extent of the movements of the individual dislocations; the upper limit of their movement, however, exceeds that for single dislocations. With increasing deformation the average distance over which dislocations move decreases. The general character of the arrangement of the dislocations is not affected by the movements observed.