Lab 1a-Deformation Mechanisms

VIEPS/Mainz Microstructure Course  
| TOC | Lecture 1 2 3 4 a b 5 a b | Lab 1 a b c 2 a b c 3 a b 4 a b 5 a b| Glossary Table1 2 3 4 5 Index |

Further Reading:

An Outline of Structural Geology, 1976. Hobbs, Means & Williams p 73-104

Crystalline Plasticity and Solid State Flow in Metamorphic Rocks, 1976 Nicholas & Poirier p 52-121

Creep of Crystals, 1985 Poirier p 38-63

Microtectonics, 1996, C. W. Passchier & R.A.J. Trouw, Springer-Verlag, Berlin.


1) Computer simulations and animations of deformation mechanisms.

The first part of the lab consists of a series of computer animations of various small scale deformation mechanisms.

To view the images in this course as a movie, click on the right arrow at the bottom left of the picture (or fast forward and reverse with the arrows on the lower right hand side).



A) Molecular Dynamics Simulations.



B) Dislocation Dynamics Simulations


Graphical Animations of Processes

C) Vacancy migration. In this movie we see a small rectangular crystal change its shape via the motion of vacancies through the crystal. Notice how the last vacancy takes a very circuitous route through the crystal, which is in fact an under-representation of the amount of random diffusional motion that would actually take place.

D) Edge Dislocations Motion. In these movies a single horizontal glide plane is activated by elastic strain build up in a crystal. Watch as the lattice bonds in the glide plane get stretched, and then switch one by one to a new orientation, and then once the dislocation has passed through the crystal, how this allows the further slip of the crystal on the glide plane.

For both screw and edge dislocations the unit displacement of the crystal lattice is known as the Burgers vector.

F) Dislocation loops and Frank-Reed Sources of Dislocations. If you have a dislocation which forms a complete loop, the loop diameter can grow as a shear stress is applied, causing strain in the crystal. How do new dislocations form? Well one really good way of generating an endless supply of dislocations is to have a Frank-Read source, which you have already seen above, which is really just a glide plane with two sticking points on it at which a glissile dislocation sticks. The stress on the initially straight dislocation bends it out until it bends so far around it joins up with itself and forms a closed loop, which then just grows in size. The remaining pinned dislocation then starts again and generates an endless supply of free loops.

This type of source will necessarily result in a concentration of slip on just a few planes, rather than even glide throughout the body of the crystal, and this is what is seen in experimental deformation of single crystals.

G) Tilt-wall formation. This movie of ice deformation made by Chris Wilson has us looking side on on a bending crystal, and shows the initial bending of a crystal (eg the light green grain in the top-left), with the regeneration of perfect crystal by the addition of dislocations of the same sign to a developing sub-grain (tilt wall boundary). This process will convert a grain showing an undulatory extinction microstructure to one with a sub-grain microstructure.

H) Twinning. In this example from Janos Urai, the limited nature of twinning is exposed: one a crystal has twinned in a certain orientation, it cannot accommodate more strain, although you do see more than one twin set is activated in this crystal. You could un-twin it by changing the stress orientation, but otherwise twinning is fixed in both the incremental amount and the total amount of strain that can be achieved. Nevertheless twinning is a very important low temperature-low strain deformation mechanisms in calcite.

VIEPS/Mainz Deformation Microstructures Course Lab 1 - Deformation Mechanisms

Copyright Mark Jessell & Paul Bons 2000