Dislocation activity, stable crack motion, and the warm-prestressing effect in magnesium oxide

Four-point bend tests were performed on precracked single-crystal MgO specimens at different temperatures and strain rates. A large amount of stable crack growth before fracture occurred; etching revealed dislocations in the crack advance region. We believe that dislocation sources near the crack ti...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Booth, A, Roberts, S
Format: Journal article
Published: Wiley 1994
Description
Summary:Four-point bend tests were performed on precracked single-crystal MgO specimens at different temperatures and strain rates. A large amount of stable crack growth before fracture occurred; etching revealed dislocations in the crack advance region. We believe that dislocation sources near the crack tip emit loops, producing shielding and antishielding dislocations; the latter promote crack advance by a repeated microcleavage mechanism. “Warm-prestressing” experiments, which improve the room-temperature fracture toughness by dislocation shielding, were performed. There was a prestress below which no “warmprestressing effect” (WPSE) was exhibited and the magnitude of the WPSE increased with increasing prestressing temperature.