MECHANICAL METALLURGY

CHAPTER 2
THEORY OF DISLOCATIONS

01: EDGE, SCREW AND MIXED DISLOCATIONS

02: SOURCE AND MULTIPLICATION OF DISLOCATIONS

0001. [GATE 2017—Q18—1M]

Stress required to operate a Frank-Read source of length L is approximately given by
Gb
A.
L
Gb2
B. L
Gb2
C. L2
Gb2
D. 2l2

[SOLUTION: A]

The dislocation segment when pinned between two points, will start bulging out. It can only
bow out that pinned line between after forming a semi-circular shape. It can be accepted that,
stress required to bow out a single dislocation:
𝐺𝑏
𝜏𝑚𝑎𝑥 =
𝐿
where, τ = shear stress required to move (bend) dislocation, G = shear modulus, b = burgers
vector of that dislocation, l = length of the dislocation segment

0002. [GATE 2011—Q42—2M] [ANSWER: C]

The largest size of immobilized segment of dislocation in a Frank Read (FR) source contained
in a polycrystalline material is of the order of grain size. In a metal of 10 μm grain size, the
shear stress required operate such a FR source is 100 MPa. If the grain size in the same metal
is reduced 10 nm, the shear stress required to operate such FR source would be:
A. 102 MPa
B. 103 MPa
C. 105 MPa
D. 106 MPa

[SOLUTION: C]
We knew the formula for dislocation generation through Frank-Read Source as:
 𝐺𝑏
𝜏𝑚𝑎𝑥 =
𝐿
where, τ = shear stress required to move (bend) dislocation, G = shear modulus, b = burgers
vector of that dislocation, l = length of the dislocation segment

Upon assuming immobilized segment of dislocation is of the order of the grain size.

Thus, we have: 𝑙1 = 10 µm, 𝜏1 = 100 MPa, & 𝑙2 = 10 nm, 𝜏2 =? As we are dealing with the same
metal, G and b values are constant.

𝜏 𝑙1 𝑙 10×10−6
Therefore: 𝜏2 = 𝑙2
; 𝜏2 = 𝑙1 × 𝜏1 = 10×10−9 × 100 = 100 × 103 MPa = 105 MPa
1 2

03: STRESS FIELDS AROUND DISLOCATIONS

0003. [GATE 2005—Q21—1M]

For a dislocation with Burgers vector b, the energy is:
A. Independent of b
B. Proportional to b
C. Inversely proportional to b2
D. Proportional to b2

[SOLUTION: D]
We understood that energy of the dislocation is nothing, but the elastic strain energy stored
in the dislocation through the formula:
𝐺𝑏2
E= 2
(G = Shear modulus, b = Burgers vector, E = Elastic strain energy)

0004. [GATE 2001—Q1.15—1M]

The elastic energy of a dislocation is related to its Burgers vector as follows
A. Directly proportional
B. Proportional to the square of the Burgers vector
C. Proportional to the square root of the Burgers vector
D. Not related at all

[SOLUTION: B]
We understood that energy of the dislocation is nothing, but the elastic strain energy stored
in the dislocation through the formula:
𝐺𝑏2
E= 2
(G = Shear modulus, b = Burgers vector, E = Elastic strain energy)

0005. [GATE 1997—Q1.32—1M]

The energy of a dislocation is (where b is the Burgers vector)
A. Proportional to b
B. Proportional to b2
C. Proportional to b3
D. Independent of b
 [SOLUTION: B]
We understood that energy of the dislocation is nothing, but the elastic strain energy stored
in the dislocation through the formula:
𝐺𝑏2
E= 2
(G = Shear modulus, b = Burgers vector, E = Elastic strain energy)

[GATE 2011—Q54—2M] & [GATE 2011—Q55—2M]

Statement for linked answer questions: Shear modulus of copper is 45 GPa. Lattice parameter
of copper is 3.61 Ao.
0006. The magnitude of burgers vector in copper is:
A. 2.54 Ao
B. 2.39 Ao
C. 2.20 Ao
D. 2.18 Ao

[SOLUTION: A]
We knew that copper is an FCC and Burgers vector for FCC “b(FCC)” is of the type a/2 <110>
type, whereas “b(BCC) = a/2 <111> type.
Given lattice parameter of copper as 3.61 Ao, therefore the magnitude of the Burgers vector
is given as:
3.61
√2 = 2.54 Ao
2

0007. The elastic strain energy per unit length of dislocation line in copper is:
A. 34.8 × 10-10 N
B. 28.8 × 10-10 N
C. 24.8 × 10-10 N
D. 14.5 × 10-10 N

[SOLUTION: D]
The elastic strain energy ‘E’ per unit length of a dislocation of Burgers vector ‘b’ is
approximately given by:
𝐺𝑏2
E = 2 (G = Shear modulus)
Given: G = 45 GPa, and we found that b = 2.54 Ao
45×109 ×2.542 ×10−20
Therefore, E = = 14.5161× 10-10 N
2

[GATE 2013—Q54—2M] & [GATE 2013—Q55—2M]

Statement for linked answer question GATE 2013—Q54—2M and GATE 2013—Q55—2M:
An edge dislocation in present in α-Fe. Atomic diameter of iron atom is 0.25 nm and its shear
modulus = 70 GPa.
0008. Modulus of Burgers vector (in, nm) is:
A. 0.125
B. 0.25
C. 0.50
D. 0.625

[SOLUTION]
We know that “α-Fe” is a BCC and Burgers vector for BCC “b(BCC)” is of the type a/2 <111>
type, whereas “b(FCC) = a/2 <110> type.
 Given: atomic diameter of α iron atom is 0.25 nm.
4𝑟 4×0.25
In BCC we knew that a = , therefore a = = 0.289
√3 2×√3
Thus, lattice parameter of α-Fe as 0.289 nm
Therefore, the magnitude of the Burgers vector is given as:
0.289
√3 = 0.25 nm
2

0009. Energy (in J/m) of the dislocation is:

A. 0.5 × 10-9
B. 1.1 × 10-9
C. 2.2 × 10-9
D. 4.4 × 10-9

[SOLUTION]
We understood that energy of the dislocation is nothing, but the elastic strain energy stored
in the dislocation through the formula:
𝐺𝑏2
E= (G = Shear modulus, b = Burgers vector, E = Elastic strain energy)
2
Given: G = 70 GPa, and we found that b = 0.25 nm
70×109 ×0.252 ×10−18
Therefore, E = 2
= 2.1875× 10-9 N ≈ 2.2× 10-9 N = 2.2× 10-9 J/m

0010. [GATE 1996—Q1.8—1M] [ANSWER: A]

The elastic strain energy of a unit length of an edge dislocation as compared to that of a screw
dislocation is
A. More
B. Equal
C. Less
D. Double

[SOLUTION]
For a dislocation running from ro, the core radius of the dislocation to R, which is some yet
undetermined external radius; the elastic energy for a screw and edge dislocations is given as:
𝐺𝑏2 𝑅
Eel(screw) = 4𝜋
𝑙𝑛 𝑟
𝑜
𝐺𝑏2 𝑅
Eel(edge) = 4𝜋(1−𝜐) 𝑙𝑛 𝑟
𝑜
Therefore, the line energy of an edge dislocation is always larger than that of a screw
dislocation since (1-υ) < 1. With υ≈ 1/3, we have Escrew ≈ 0.66 Eedge

04: PARTIAL DISLOCATIONS

0011. [GATE 1999—Q2.6—2M]

The stacking fault energy of metal A is greater than that of metal B. Then
A. Width of stacking fault ribbons will be larger in metal A
B. Screw dislocations will cross-slip more easily in metal A
C. Separation distance between partials will be larger in metal B
D. Climb of edge dislocations will be faster in metal A
 [SOLUTION: B and C]

A stacking fault is produced by the dissociation of a unit dislocation into two imperfect
dislocations. Thus, when viewed from dislocation theory, a stacking fault is an extended
dislocation consisting of a thin region bounded by partial dislocations. The nearly parallel
partial dislocations tend to repel each other, but this is counterbalanced by the surface
tension of the stacking fault pulling them together. The lower the stacking-fault energy, the
greater the separation between the partial dislocations and the wider the stacking fault.
Below figure explains the same:

Schematic model of a stacking fault. (Courtesy: Mechanical Metallurgy _ SI Metric Edition _ George E. Dieter,
Adapted by David Bacon _ Mc-Graw-Hill Book Company.)

In bcc metals, and fcc metals with high stacking fault energy, the tangles rearrange into sharp
boundaries but in metals of low stacking fault energy the dislocations are extended, cross-slip
is restricted and sharp boundaries are not formed even at large strains.

Therefore, for metal A (higher SFE), screw dislocation will cross-slip more easily than in metal
B (lower SFE), also the stacking fault region (separation between partial dislocations) is more
for metal B (lower SFE) than for metal A (higher SFE).

0012. [GATE 1995—Q1.8—1M] [ANSWER: D]

Dislocation cross-slip is difficult in those material which have
A. Large number of slip systems
B. High work-hardening rate
C. Coarse grain size
D. Low stacking fault energy

[SOLUTION: D]

Cross-slip is more difficult in metals with a low stacking-fault energy (i.e. a wide stacking fault).
This is because the partial dislocations, which are well-separated, cannot recombine to form
a perfect dislocation cross slip. For example, cross-slip is not observed in copper (which has a
stacking-fault energy of 45 mJ/m2, but is quite prevalent in aluminium (which has a stacking
fault energy of 166 mJ/m2)

0013. [GATE 2006—Q13—1M]

Cross slip is prevalent in materials with
A. High stacking fault energy
B. High grain boundary energy
C. Low stacking fault energy
D. Low grain boundary energy
 [SOLUTION: A]
Cross-slip is prevalent in the materials of High SFE, thus which are having lower stacking fault
regions. As this SF region is lower, it is easy for a screw dislocation to move from one slip plane
to another slip plane. It is something like, we can cross the river at a narrow water flow region,
easily.

0014. [GATE 2005—Q62—2M] [ANSWER: B]

Stainless steel A has a stacking fault energy 8 mJ m-2 and stainless-steel B has a stacking fault
energy 45 mJ m-2. The correct statements out of the following are
P A will have wider stacking faults than B
Q A will strain hardens more rapidly than B
R A and B will develop similar types of substance
S A and B will have the same temperature dependence of flow stress
A. P, Q and R
B. P and Q
C. P, R and S
D. P and S

[SOLUTION: B]

A stacking fault is an extended dislocation consisting of a thin region bounded by partial

dislocations. The lower the stacking-fault energy, the greater the separation between the
partial dislocations and the wider the stacking fault.

Strain-hardening behaviors of materials with different SFEs: In the material with a high SFE
dynamic recovery is favored due to the dislocation cross-slip under the quasi-static straining
process. In that case, the strain-hardening rate is monotonously decreased with increasing the
strain. In contrast, the strain-hardening behavior is sensitive to the grain size in the material
with a low SFE due to the intervening of SFs and deformation twins. Below figure schematically
shows the strain-hardening curves of coarse-grained FCC materials with low high SFEs. Thus,
metals with wide stacking faults (low SFE) strain-harden more rapidly, when compared with
the metals of higher SFE.

Schematic illustration on the typical strain-hardening curves of the coarse-grained FCC materials with high and low
SFEs. (Courtesy: Tian, Y., Zhao, L., Chen, S., Shibata, A., Zhang, Z., & Tsuji, N. (2015). Significant contribution of
 stacking faults to the strain hardening behavior of Cu-15%Al alloy with different grain sizes. Scientific Reports, 5(1).
doi: 10.1038/srep16707.)

0015. [GATE 2009—Q34—2M] [ANSWER: A]

Stacking Fault Energy (SFE) plays an important role in determining the work hardening ability
of a metal. In this context, the correct logical sequence is
A. High SFE → Easy cross slip → Low work Hardening
B. High SFE → Difficult cross slip → High work hardening
C. Low SFE → Easy cross slip → Low work hardening
D. Low SFE → Difficult cross slip → Low work hardening

[SOLUTION]
Cross-slip is prevalent in the materials of High SFE, thus which are having lower stacking fault
regions. As this SF region is lower, it is easy for a screw dislocation to move from one slip plane
to another slip plane. It is something like, we can cross the river at a narrow water flow region,
easily.

Strain-hardening behaviors of materials with different SFEs: In the material with a high SFE
dynamic recovery is favored due to the dislocation cross-slip under the quasi-static straining
process. In that case, the strain-hardening rate is monotonously decreased with increasing the
strain. In contrast, the strain-hardening behavior is sensitive to the grain size in the material
with a low SFE due to the intervening of SFs and deformation twins. Below figure schematically
shows the strain-hardening curves of coarse-grained FCC materials with low high SFEs. Thus,
metals with wide stacking faults (low SFE) strain-harden more rapidly, when compared with
the metals of higher SFE.

Schematic illustration on the typical strain-hardening curves of the coarse-grained FCC

materials with high and low SFEs. (Courtesy: Tian, Y., Zhao, L., Chen, S., Shibata, A., Zhang, Z.,
& Tsuji, N. (2015). Significant contribution of stacking faults to the strain hardening behavior
of Cu-15%Al alloy with different grain sizes. Scientific Reports, 5(1). doi: 10.1038/srep16707.)

05: DISLOCATION INTERACTIONS AND REACTIONS

0016. [GATE 2000—Q2.14—2M]

Movement of jogs can produce
A. Vacancies
 B. Interstitial
C. Grain boundary sliding
D. Grain boundary migration

[SOLUTION: A and B]
A screw dislocation can acquire both vacancy- and interstitial- producing jogs during plastic
deformation. At a sufficiently high stress and/or temperature, movement of the jog will leave
behind a trail of vacancies or interstitial atoms depending on the sign of the dislocation and
the direction, the dislocation moving. A jog which moves in such a direction that it produces
vacancies is called a ‘vacancy job’, and if it moves in the opposite direction, it is called an
‘interstitial jog’.

0017. [GATE 2005—Q23—1M]

Under application of stress, when a straight dislocation (radius of curvature, R = ∞) tries to
bow out around precipitates of spacing ‘L’, there is an instability during changing of curvature
at:
A. R = L
B. R = L/2
C. R = L/3
D. R = L/4

[SOLUTION: B]

Diagrammatic representation of the dislocation movement in the Frank-Read source. Unit slip has occurred in the
shaded area. (Courtesy: Introduction to Dislocations _ 5E _ D. Hull and D.J. Bacon _ Butterworth-Heinemann.)

The well-known Frank-Read source mechanism is an extension to a dislocation line held at

each end as illustrated in the above figure. The segment AB has the slip plane indicated in the
above figure (a), i.e., its Burgers vector lies in this plane, and is held at both ends by an
unspecified barrier, which may be dislocation intersections or nodes, composite jogs,
precipitates, etc. An applied resolved shear stress (τ) exerts a force ‘τb’ per unit length of
dislocation line and tends to make the dislocation bow out. The radius of curvature R depends
on the stress according to the equation:
𝛼𝐺𝑏
𝜏𝑜 =
𝑅
 Thus, as ‘τ’ increases, R decreases and the line bows out until the maximum value of R is
reached at the position as illustration in the above figure (c), where now the slip plane is
represented by the plane of the paper. Here, R equal L/2, where L is the length of AB, and with
α = 0.5, the stress is:
𝐺𝑏 𝐺𝑏
𝜏𝑚𝑎𝑥 = =
𝐿 2𝑅
As the line continues to expand at this stress, R increases and so the dislocation becomes
unstable. The subsequent events are shown in the above figure from (d) to (f). The dislocation
forms a large kidney-shaped loop, and the segments ‘m’ and ‘n’ annihilate on meeting.

0018. [GATE 2002—Q2.18—2M]

The stress required to move a dislocation of Burgers vector 3 Ao through a matrix having shear
modulus of 80 GPa and containing incoherent precipitates separated by an average distance
of 0.3 μm is:
A. 80 GPa
B. 40 GPa
C. 80 MPa
D. 800 MPa

[SOLUTION: C]

The shear stress for Orowan bowing is given by:

𝐺𝑏 𝐺𝑏
τ ≈ 𝑙 = 2𝑟
where, τ = shear stress required to move (bend) dislocation, G = shear modulus, b = burgers
vector of that dislocation, l = interparticle spacing, and r = dislocation radius.

We can assume that a dislocation bowing around the precipitates becomes unstable when it
becomes a semicircle – that is, when its radius is equal to half the interparticle spacing.

0.3
Given: G = 80 GPa, b = 3 Ao, and l = 0.3 μm. Thus: r = 2
= 0.15 μm
80×109 ×0.3×10−10 240×105 5
Therefore: τ = = = 800 × 10 Pa = 80 MPa
2×0.15×10−6 0.3

0019. [GATE 2015—Q22—1M] [ANSWER: 490 to 510]

The stress required for Orowan dislocation bypass is 200 MPa in an alloy when the
interprecipitate spacing is 500 nm. In the same alloy, if the inter-precipitate spacing is reduced
to 200 nm, the stress required (in MPa) is:

[SOLUTION]:

The shear stress for Orowan bowing is given by:

𝐺𝑏
τ≈ 𝑙
where, τ = shear stress required to move (bend) dislocation, G = shear modulus, b = burgers
vector of that dislocation, l = interparticle spacing.

Given: 𝑙1 = 500 nm, 𝜏1 = 200 MPa, & 𝑙2 = 200 nm, 𝜏2 =? As we are dealing with the same alloy,
G and b values are constant.
 𝜏2 𝑙1 𝑙1 500
Therefore: = ; 𝜏2 = × 𝜏1 = × 200 = 500 MPa
𝜏1 𝑙2 𝑙2 200

0020. [GATE 2009—Q42—2M] [ANSWER: D]

During low temperature, plastic deformation of an underage precipitation hardened alloy
involves dislocations to be:
A. Climb to completely avoid the precipitate
B. Loop around the precipitate
C. Cross-slip to completely avoid the precipitate
D. Cut through the precipitate

[SOLUTION: D]

When precipitates nucleate and grow, they intersect slip planes in a random fashion. A gliding
dislocation must either cut through the precipitates or penetrate the array by bowing
between the obstacles. It will adopt the mechanism whichever offering the lowest resistance.

Whether the dislocation will cut or bypass a particle depends on whether the corresponding
sliding plane from the matrix continues through that particle. In the case of coherent particles,
the corresponding sliding plane from the matrix is continued through the particle so that the
dislocation can enter in the particle, that is, the dislocation will cut the particles. In the case
of non-coherent particles, the corresponding sliding plane from the matrix does not continue
through the particle. Because of that dislocation cannot enter such particle and it must bypass
such non-coherent particle (Orowan bowing mechanism). Coherency between matrix and
particles is only possible in the case of fine (small) particles. With the particle growth, the
coherency gradually decreases because the matrix crystal lattice and particle crystal lattice
have different parameters. When the particles become big enough, they become non-
coherent.

In general, dislocation cutting dominates at smaller particle size (underaged, coherent, r <
rcritical) and at larger particle size (overaged, incoherent, r > rcritical), Orowan bowing dominates.
The stress for cutting is directly proportional to ‘r’, whereas for Orowan bowing, stress is
inversely proportional to ‘r’. The usual critical radius is about 5-30 nm. The below figure
explains the precipitate particle size effect of dislocation interaction:

The competition between cutting and bowing (By Hailey Guo - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=69149552).