Elastic-Plastic Transition in Copper Crystals as Determined by an Etch-Pit Technique

Abstract

Copper (99.999%) crystals with a dislocation density of 50/mm2 have been prepared. These crystals were stressed by applying a pure bending moment, and they were etched with a dislocation etch either before and after or while the stress was applied. The motion of dislocations was determined by observing the size and nature of the dislocation etch pits. The resolved stress necessary to move grown-in dislocations was about 4 g/mm2. Examples of dislocation motion under stress, then return motion when the stress was removed, and of multiple motion under stress were observed. Multiplication of dislocations occurred at a resolved stress of about 18 g/mm2. The observed phenomena are discussed in terms of simple dislocation theory.