Dislocations are line defects, extending through a crystal for some distance along a dislocation

line.

The Burgers vector specifies the magnitude and direction of the atomic movements that occur as
the dislocation moves through the lattice. The angle between the line vector and Burgers vector
characterises the nature of a dislocation - when the dislocation line and Burgers vector are
perpendicular, the dislocation is known as an edge dislocation. When they are parallel, the
dislocation is a screw dislocation. Between these two ideal angles, the dislocation is mixed.

Climb and cross-slip are the two dominant processes by which dislocations become organised and
annihilate each other by dislocation interaction.

Climb is the mechanism of moving an edge dislocation from one slip plane to another through the
incorporation of vacancies or atoms.

Cross-slip is the movement of a screw dislocation from one allowable slip plane to another.

Commonly, dislocations are generated and move on more than one slip system simultaneously.
These dislocations must therefore intersect each other, leading to the formation of jogs. Jogs
refer to, confusingly, both a jog and a kink. A jog is a short section with length and direction
equal to b of the other dislocation and lies out of the slip plane. A kink is a short break in the
dislocation line which lies in the slip plane. The formation of jogs has two important
consequences:

1. Jogs increase the lengths of the dislocation lines. Hence the intersection of dislocations
involve the expenditure of additional energy.

2. Jogged dislocations will move less readily through the crystal, so they play an important
role in work hardening.

Compared to single crystals, poly-crystals tend to have higher yield stresses. This is because
each grain in the poly-crystals has to undergo a complex shape change which is consistent with
those of their neighbors, requiring multiple slips from the start.

1. New dislocations are generated from a Frank-Read source.

4. Climb and cross-slip are the two processes by which dislocations can become organised and
annihilate. Climb is the mechanism of moving an edge dislocation from one slip plane to another
through the incorporation of vacancies or atoms. Cross-slip is the movement of a screw
dislocation from one allowable slip plane to another. Cross-slip is favoured in metals with a high
stacking-fault energy.
5. Jogs are formed by dislocation intersections. In particular, the intersection between two screw
dislocations is crucial to work hardening.

6. The two stages of the plastic deformation of a single crystal are discussed. It is important to
note that stage l only exists in single crystals, as only one slip system is operated (Poly-crystals
do not exhibit stage l as multiple slips are initiated from the start). Stage ll, where the hardening
rate is constant, is governed by forest hardening.