A dislocation segment in a crystal experiences a so-called self-force, by virtue of the orientation dependence of its elastic energy. If the crystal was elastically isotropic, this force was 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 was anisotropic, there were additional contributions to the couple, arising from the more complex energy landscape of the lattice itself. These effects could strongly influence the dynamic evolution of dislocation networks, and via their governing role in dislocation multiplication phenomena, control plastic flow in metals. A model was developed here for dislocation self-forces in a general anisotropic crystal, and the technologically important example of α-iron, which becomes increasingly anisotropic as the temperature approaches that of the α–γ phase transition at 912C was briefly considered.

Self-Force on Dislocation Segments in Anisotropic Crystals. S.P.Fitzgerald, S.Aubry: Journal of Physics - Condensed Matter, 2010, 22[29], 295403