Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2000
Barriers of very different character such as localized obstacles and the extendedPeierls- Nabarro relief may control the dislocation motion in crystals in different stressand temperature ranges. The great difference in the microscopic parameters characterizingthese two mechanisms, e.g., in the activation volumes, manifests itself even on themacroscopic scale as a strong change of the plastic properties in a rather narrow transitionrange of the temperature. A theory describing the temperature dependence of the flow stressand the strain rate sensitivity near the transition has been developed and compared withexperimental data on the plastic deformation of cubic ZrO2 single crystals in a softorientation.