Abstract
We provide a minimal continuum model for mesoscale plasticity, explaining the cellular dislocation structures observed in deformed crystals. Our dislocation density tensor evolves from random, smooth initial conditions to form self-similar structures strikingly similar to those seen experimentally—reproducing both the fractal morphologies and some features of the scaling of cell sizes and misorientations analyzed experimentally. Our model provides a framework for understanding emergent dislocation structures on the mesoscale, a bridge across a computationally demanding mesoscale gap in the multiscale modeling program, and a new example of self-similar structure formation in nonequilibrium systems.
- Received 8 March 2010
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.105.105501
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© 2010 The American Physical Society