Continuously dislocated continuum theory was combined with discrete dislocation theory in order to develop quantities that permitted models, which involved interactions between individual dislocations, to be incorporated into a description of multi-axial yielding. This yielded a dislocation mobility tensor which related the velocity of a dislocation configuration to the net Peach-Koehler force acting on the configuration. It also yielded a vector quantity which represented the dislocation content of the material. The theory of thermally activated motion of dislocations past obstacles was used to relate the dislocation velocity to stress via a stress-dependent mobility tensor. Its components were determined by the nature of the interaction of the moving dislocation with the obstacle. An example was given in which the obstacle was a forest dislocation, that affected a gliding dislocation, via the mutual interaction of their stress fields. The work led to a quantity that could be used as a plastic potential for the construction of an associated flow law.

A Method for Linking Thermally Activated Dislocation Mechanisms of Yielding with Continuum Plasticity Theory. C.S.Hartley: Philosophical Magazine, 2003, 83[31], 3783-808