Dislocation loop emission by a Frank-Read source, and loop evolution in a uniform field of randomly distributed weak point obstacles was studied via computer simulation. A threshold source length was identified such that dislocation loops from shorter sources expanded in a super-obstacle regime. In other cases, they enlarged under thermal activation and there was a dependence upon the strength of the obstacles. The ranges of stresses within which dislocation loops expanded above the obstacle, shrank or grew via thermal activation were determined. In contrast to the case of infinite linear dislocations, the stable evolution of dislocation loops in all stress regimes was not observed.

Dislocation Loop Evolution from a Source in a Field of Randomly Distributed Uniform Obstacles. M.I.Slobodskoi, T.N.Golosova, A.V.Matyushchenko: Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii Fizika, 1997, 40[6], 61-4 (Russian Physics Journal, 1997, 40[6], 558-60)