A sub-grain dislocation climb model was developed in order to describe the mechanism of continuous recrystallization in the initial stages of superplastic deformation. When a gliding dislocation reached a sub-grain boundary, the dislocation climbed along the sub-grain boundary so as to increase the misorientation. Upon assuming that the dislocation climb process was rate-controlling, the model predicted a stress exponent of 3. This was the first mathematical model, for continuous recrystallization, which incorporated the effect of sub-grain boundary misorientation.

Dislocation Model for Continuous Recrystallization during the Initial Stage of Superplastic Deformation. X.Zhang, M.J.Tan: Scripta Materialia, 1998, 38[5], 827-31