THE DEFORMATION OF PLASTICALLY NON-HOMOGENEOUS MATERIALS.

Many two-phase alloys work harden much faster than do pure single crystals. Such alloys are plastically non-homogeneous, because gradients of plastic deformation are imposed by the microstructure dislocations are stored in them to accommodate the deformation gradients, and so allow compatible deformation of the two phases. With the exception of single-phase single crystals, almost all metals and alloys are plastically non-homogeneous. The results of this research indicate that more attention should be given to the non-uniform aspects of plastic deformation, and that a plasticity theory based on dislocation mechanics can be constructed for certain such alloys.