Several aspects of the dynamics of dislocation assemblies in simple models of plastic deformation were studied that might be successfully addressed using the conceptual and technical tools of statistical mechanics. In particular, the yielding (or jamming) transition between stationary and moving states, the intermittent and globally slow relaxations observed around this transition and the stress–strain relationships measured in the steady regime of deformation, were considered. The main implications of sample geometry and quenched disorder for the dislocation assemblies present in the vortex lattice of type-II superconductors were also briefly described.

Statistical Dynamics of Dislocations in Simple Models of Plastic Deformation - Phase Transitions and Related Phenomena. M.C.Miguel, P.Moretti, M.Zaiser, S.Zapperi: Materials Science and Engineering A, 2005, 400-401, 191-8