Single crystals of the quasicrystal approximant ξ-phase were deformed at high temperatures in 3-point bending. Two different mechanisms of plastic deformation were observed: one was based upon the motion of phason lines and the other was based upon dislocations. The line directions and Burgers vector directions of the dislocations were determined, and the relative importance of the 2 mechanisms was considered as a function of the sample orientation with respect to the bending geometry. The high density of phason lines which was observed in one sample showed that this mechanism could predominate over the dislocation mechanism during plastic deformation of this phase. The relative importance of the 2 mechanisms depended upon the sample orientation.

Bending Experiments on the ξ'-(Al-Pd-Mn) Quasicrystal Approximant. H.Klein, M.Feuerbacher, P.Schall, K.Urban: Philosophical Magazine Letters, 2000, 80[1], 11-8