The cracked dislocation under tension

Abstract

Abstract Appropriate distributions of infinitesimal dislocations are used to deduce the fracture criteria for dislocations or groups of dislocations with a crack either normal to or lying in their slip plane. The essential simplicity of the method of derivation is emphasized and the results are compared with previously published theoretical work by other authors. In addition the model, involving crack propagation in a slip plane containing a group of dislocations, is used to provide a new explanation of the observed orientation dependence of the fracture stress of zinc single crystals.