Self-force on dislocation segments in anisotropic crystals

A dislocation segment in a crystal experiences a 'self-force', by virtue of the orientation dependence of its elastic energy. If the crystal is elastically isotropic, this force is manifested as a couple acting to rotate the segment toward the lower energy of the pure screw orientation (i.e. acting to align the dislocation line with its Burgers vector). If the crystal is anisotropic, there are additional contributions to the couple, arising from the more complex energy landscape of the lattice itself. These effects can strongly influence the dynamic evolution of dislocation networks, and via their governing role in dislocation multiplication phenomena, control plastic flow in metals. In this paper we develop a model for dislocation self-forces in a general anisotropic crystal, and briefly consider the technologically important example of α-iron, which becomes increasingly anisotropic as the temperature approaches that of the α–γ phase transition at 912 °C.