It was suggested that, in energetic crystals, tubular holes might run along pre-existing dislocations and act as shock-induced in situ hot spots. It was proposed that nearly invisible clouds of dislocations might be generated at point defects, or point defect clusters, by the shear stresses at a shock front. Multiple fine-scale dislocation movements provided a mechanism for the shock to move to a hydrostatic stress state. Interatomic or intermolecular separations of the order of the critical reaction coordinate distances could be achieved, during unit dislocation displacements, without any change in material volume. Such nano-scale dislocation predictions could be related to micro-scale experiments in a number of cases where larger-scale defect considerations were involved. Dislocation pile-ups in slip-band avalanches, which were often associated with cracking, accounted for the appreciable and localized heating that was deformation-rate dependent. Complex dislocation slip-band interactions occurred within the plastic zones of macroscopic crack tips and controlled the fracture toughness properties of energetic and related materials.

Dislocation Mechanisms for Shock-Induced Hot Spots. R.W.Armstrong: Journal de Physique IV, 1995, 5[C4], 89-102