Deformation experiments were performed on 3 different Fe-4at%Si bicrystals. Synchrotron radiation topography was used, during and after testing, to investigate the effect of grain boundaries upon slip transmission and to study the interaction of slip dislocations with the grain boundaries. It was found that the grain boundary formed a strong barrier in all cases, and that slip transfer could not be fully explained by the geometrical relationships between Burgers vectors and slip planes in the 2 grains. In order to explain the experimental results, the internal stresses near to the grain boundaries were calculated. These stresses were due to accumulated slip dislocations which were produced in one grain and halted at the grain boundary, and to image forces which were due to the grain boundary.

Grain Boundaries and Propagation of Slip Bands. J.Gemperlová, A.Jacques, M.Polcarová, J.Brádler, V.Novák, A.George: Materials Science Forum, 1999, 294-296, 373-6