Skip to main content
Log in

A brief history of dislocation theory

  • Published:
Metallurgical Transactions A Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Early developments leading to the concept of a dislocation are discussed. The discoveries of 1934 are described. The subsequent evolution of various aspects of dislocation theory is outlined.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. The Sorby Centennial Symposium on the History of Metallurgy, C. S. Smith, ed., Gordon and Breach, New York, NY, 1965.

  2. F. R. N. Nabarro:Theory of Crystal Dislocations, Oxford Univ. Press, London, 1967.

    Google Scholar 

  3. C.V. Burton:Phil. Mag., 1982, vol. 33, p. 191.

    Google Scholar 

  4. H. J. Axon and J. A. L. Matheson:Nature, 1956, vol. 178, p. 222, drew attention to the Rede Lecture of O. Reynolds in 1902 and reproduced his figures of defects in a two-dimensional, hexagonal, hard-ball model that we would now identify as a stairrod partial dislocation together with associated stacking faults. Indeed, C.S. Smith, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, personal communication, Aug., 1984, has noted that R. Descartes, in considering his corpuscular theory of the universe, showed defects resembling dislocations in such a two-dimensional array.

    Google Scholar 

  5. J. Larmor:Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. London, 1897, vol. A190, p. 205.

    Google Scholar 

  6. C.G. Darwin:Phil. Mag., 1914, vol. 27, pp. 315 and 675.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. G. Weingarten:Atti Accad. naz. Lincei Rc., 1901, vol. 10, p. 57.

    Google Scholar 

  8. A. Timpe:Z. Math. Phys., 1905, vol. 52, p. 348.

    Google Scholar 

  9. V. Volterra:Ann. Ecole Norm. Super. Paris, 1907, vol. 24, p. 400. 10. A. E. H. Love: A Treatise on the Mathematical Theory of Elasticity, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1920.

    Google Scholar 

  10. O. Mügge:Neues Jahrb. Mineral., 1883, vol. I, p. 13.

    Google Scholar 

  11. A. Ewing and W. Rosenhain:Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. London, 1899, vol. A193, p. 353.

    Google Scholar 

  12. An interesting historical account is given in W. L. Bragg:The Crystalline State, Bell, London, 1962, p. 268.

    Google Scholar 

  13. J.A. Ewing:Rep. Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci., London, 1907, p. 657.

  14. W. Voigt:Ann. Physik, 1919, vol. 60, p. 638.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. L. Prandtl:Z. angew. Math. Mech., 1928, vol. 8, p. 85.

    Google Scholar 

  16. G.I. Taylor:Trans. Faraday Soc., 1928, vol. 24, p. 121.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. K. Yamaguchi:Sci. Pap. Inst. Phys. Chem. Res. Tokyo, 1929, vol. 11, p. 223.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. A. Smekal:Handb. d. Phys., 2nd ed., 1933, vol. 24, p. 795.

    Google Scholar 

  19. F. Zwicky:Physikal. Z., 1923, vol. 24, p. 131.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. J. Frenkel:Z. Phys., 1926, vol. 37, p. 572.

    Google Scholar 

  21. U. Dehlinger:Ann. Physik, 1929, vol. 2, p. 749.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. F. R.N. Nabarro:Theory of Crystal Dislocations, Oxford Univ. Press, London, 1967, p. 4.

    Google Scholar 

  23. G. Masing and M. Polanyi:Ergebn. exakt. Naturw., 1923, vol. 2, p. 177.

    Google Scholar 

  24. E. Orowan:The Sorby Centennial Symposium on the History of Metallurgy, C. S. Smith, ed., Gordon and Breach, New York, NY, 1965, p. 360.

    Google Scholar 

  25. E. Orowan: ibid., p. 359.

    Google Scholar 

  26. G.I. Taylor: ibid., p. 355.

    Google Scholar 

  27. A.A. Griffith:Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. London, 1920, vol. A221, p. 163.

    Google Scholar 

  28. E. Orowan:Z. Phys., 1934, vol. 89, pp. 605, 614, and 634.

    Google Scholar 

  29. M. Polanyi:Z. Phys., 1934, vol. 89, p. 660.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. G.I. Taylor:Proc. Roy. Soc. London, 1934, vol. A145, p. 362.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. For example see the reviews in A. W. Thompson, ed.:Work Hardening in Tension and Fatigue, TMS-AIME, Warrendale, PA, 1977.

    Google Scholar 

  32. D. Kuhlmann-Wilsdorf:Mater. Sci. Eng., 1979, vol. 39, p. 127.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Scientific papers of G.I. Taylor, G.K. Batchelor, ed., Cambridge University Press, 1958-63, vols. 1–3.

  34. E. Orowan: inDislocations in Metals, M. Cohen, ed., AIME, New York, NY, 1954, p. 104.

    Google Scholar 

  35. E. Orowan: inSymposium on Internal Stresses, Inst. Metals, London, 1947, p. 451.

    Google Scholar 

  36. R.E. Peierls:Proc. Phys. Soc., 1940, vol. 52, p. 23.

    Google Scholar 

  37. R.E. Peierls: inDislocation Dynamics, A.R. Rosenfield, G.T. Hahn, A.L. Bernent, and R.I. Jaffee, eds., McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, 1968, p. xiii.

    Google Scholar 

  38. J. M. Burgers:Proc Kon. Ned. Akad. Wetenschap., 1939, vol. 42, pp. 293, 378.

    Google Scholar 

  39. W. F. Harris:Surface and Defect Prop. Solids, 1974, vol. 3, p. 57.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  40. R. W. Marks:The Dymaxion World of Buckminster Fuller, Reinhold, New York, NY, 1960.

    Google Scholar 

  41. O. Lehmann:Flussige Kristalle, Engelman, Leipzig, 1904.

    Google Scholar 

  42. G. Friedel:Ann. Physique, 1922, vol. 18, p. 273.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  43. F.C. Frank:Phil. Mag., 1951, vol. 42, p. 809.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  44. F.C. Frank:Disc. Faraday Soc., 1958, vol. 25, p. 19.

    Google Scholar 

  45. F. R. N. Nabarro: inFundamental Aspects of Dislocation Theory, J.A. Simmons, R. DeWit, and R. Bullough, eds., Spec. Publ. 317, Nat. Bur. Stand., Washington, DC, 1970, vol. 1, p. 710.

    Google Scholar 

  46. F.R.N. Nabarro: inInt. Congress on Electron Diffraction and Cryst. Defects, Pergamon, Oxford, 1966, p. II L-l.

    Google Scholar 

  47. K. H. Anthony, U. Essmann, A. Seeger, and H. Träuble: inMechanics of Generalized Continua, E. Kröner, ed., Springer, Berlin, 1968, p. 355.

    Google Scholar 

  48. J. D. Eshelby, J. P. Hirth, and R. DeWit: inFundamental Aspects of Dislocation Theory, J. A. Simmons, R. DeWit, and R. Bullough, eds., Spec. Publ. 317, Nat. Bur. Stand., Washington, DC, 1970, vol. 1, p. 715.

    Google Scholar 

  49. T. W. Chou: inDislocation Modeling of Physical Systems, M. F. Ashby, R. Bullough, C. S. Hartley, and J. P. Hirth, eds., Pergamon, Oxford, 1981, p. 405.

    Google Scholar 

  50. R. DeWit:J. Res. Nat. Bur. Stand., 1973, vol. 77A, pp. 49, 359; in Dislocation Modeling of Physical Systems, M. F. Ashby, R. Bullough, C.S. Hartley, and J.P. Hirth, eds., Pergamon, Oxford, 1981, p. 304.

    Google Scholar 

  51. W.F. Brown:Phys. Rev., 1941, vol. 60, p. 139.

    Google Scholar 

  52. J.F. Nye:Acta Metall., 1953, vol. 1, p. 153.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  53. K. Kondo:RAAG Memoirs of the Unifying Study of the Basic Problems in Engineering Sciences by Means of Geometry, Gakujutsu Buuken Fukyu-Kai, Tokyo, 1955, vol. I, p. 453; also see Ref. 46, p. 761.

    Google Scholar 

  54. B. A. Bilby, R. Bullough, and E. Smith:Proc. Roy. Soc. London, 1955, vol. A231, p. 263.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  55. E. Kröner: inDislocation Modeling of Physical Systems, M.F. Ashby, R. Bullough, C. S. Hartley, and J. P. Hirth, eds., Pergamon, Oxford, 1981, p. 285.

    Google Scholar 

  56. E. Kröner:Ergeb. angew. Math, 1958, vol. 5, p. 1.

    Google Scholar 

  57. E. Cosserat and F. Cosserat:Theorie des Corps Deformables, Herman, Paris, 1909.

    Google Scholar 

  58. Mechanics of Generalized Media, E. Kröner, ed., Springer, Berlin, 1968.

  59. I. A. Kunin:Elastic Media with Microstructure, Springer, Berlin, 1982.

    Google Scholar 

  60. A. C. Eringen: inNonlinear Equations in Phys. and Math., A. O. Barut, ed., Reidel, Dondrecht, 1978, p. 271.

    Google Scholar 

  61. A. G. Herrmann: inDislocation Modeling of Physical Systems, M.F. Ashby, R. Bullough, C.S. Hartley, and J.P. Hirth, eds., Pergamon, Oxford, 1981, p. 110. 63. A. Kadic and D. G. Edelen: A Gauge Theory of Dislocations and Disclinations, Springer Lecture Notes in Physics, No. 174, Berlin, 1983.

    Google Scholar 

  62. J. S. Koehler:Phys. Rev., 1941, vol. 60, p. 397.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  63. J.P. Hirth and J. Lothe:Theory of Dislocations, 2nd ed., Wiley, New York, NY, 1982.

    Google Scholar 

  64. M. O. Peach and J. S. Koehler:Phys. Rev., 1950, vol. 80, p. 436.

    Google Scholar 

  65. J. Blin:Acta Metall., 1955, vol. 3, p. 199.

    Google Scholar 

  66. F.R.N. Nabarro:Advan. Phys., 1952, vol. 1, p. 269.

    Google Scholar 

  67. J.D. Eshelby:Phil. Trans. Roy Soc. London, 1951, vol. A244, p. 87.

    Google Scholar 

  68. J. Lothe: inFundamental Aspects of Dislocation Theory, J. A. Simmons, R. DeWit, and R. Bullough, eds., Spec. Publ. 317, Nat. Bur. Stand., Washington, DC, 1970, vol. 1, p. 11.

    Google Scholar 

  69. F. Kroupa:Czech. J. Phys., 1960, vol. 10B, p. 284.

    Google Scholar 

  70. E.H. Yoffe:Phil. Mag., 1960, vol. 5, p. 161.

    Google Scholar 

  71. T. Jøssang, J. Lothe, and K. Skylstad:Acta Metall., 1965, vol. 13, p. 271.

    Google Scholar 

  72. J.D. Eshelby and T. Laub:Can. J. Phys., 1967, vol. 45, p. 887.

    Google Scholar 

  73. J. Lothe:Phil. Mag., 1967, vol. 15, p. 353.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  74. L.M. Brown:Phil. Mag., 1967, vol. 15, p. 363.

    Google Scholar 

  75. V.L. Indenbom and S.S. Orlov:Sov. Phys. Cryst., 1968, vol. 12, p. 849.

    Google Scholar 

  76. T. Mura:Phil. Mag., 1963, vol. 8, p. 843.

    Google Scholar 

  77. J.D. Eshelby, W.T. Read, and W. Shockley:Acta Metall., 1953, vol. 1, p. 251.

    Google Scholar 

  78. A.N. Stroh:J. Math. Phys., 1962, vol. 41, p. 77.

    Google Scholar 

  79. J.R. Willis:Phil. Mag., 1970, vol. 21, p. 931.

    Google Scholar 

  80. D. M. Barnett and J. Lothe:Phys. Norvegica, 1973, vol. 7, p. 13.

    Google Scholar 

  81. D.J. Bacon, D.M. Bamett, and R.O. Scattergood:Prog. Mater. Sci., 1978, vol. 23, p. 51.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  82. F. R. N. Nabarro:Proc. Phys. Soc. London, 1947, vol. 59, p. 256.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  83. M.P. Puls: inDislocation Modeling of Physical Systems, M.F. Ashby, R. Bullough, C. S. Hartley, and J. P. Hirth, eds., Pergamon, Oxford, 1981, p. 249.

    Google Scholar 

  84. C. Zener:Trans. AIME, 1942, vol. 147, p. 361.

    Google Scholar 

  85. R. A. Toupin and R. S. Rivlin:J. Math. Phys., 1960, vol. 1, p. 8.

    Google Scholar 

  86. R.G. Hoagland, J.P. Hirth, and P.C. Gehlen:Phil. Mag., 1976, vol. 34, p. 413.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  87. J. Frenkel and T. Kontorova:Phys. Z. Sowj., 1938, vol. 13, p. 1.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  88. F. C. Frank and J. H. van der Merwe:Proc. Roy. Soc. London, 1949, vol. A198, p. 216.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  89. R. D. Heidenreich and W. Shockley:Report of Conf. on Strength of Solids, Phys. Soc., London, 1948, p. 57.

    Google Scholar 

  90. F. Seitz:Phys. Rev., 1950, vol. 80, p. 239.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  91. J. Weertman:Phys. Rev., 1956, vol. 101, p. 1429.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  92. A. Seeger:Phil. Mag., 1956, vol. 1, p. 651; A. Seeger and P. Schiller: Acta Metall., 1962, vol. 10, p. 348.

    Google Scholar 

  93. J. Lothe and J.P. Hirth:Phys. Rev., 1959, vol. 115, p. 543.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  94. A. Seeger:Z.f. Metallic., 1981, vol. 72, p. 369.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  95. F. R. N. Nabarro:Report of Conf. on Strength of Solids, Phys. Soc., London, 1948, p. 75.

    Google Scholar 

  96. J. Bardeen:Phys. Rev., 1949, vol. 76, p. 1403.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  97. N.F. Mott:Proc. Phys. Soc. London, 1951, vol. B64, p. 729.

    Google Scholar 

  98. W.T. Read and W. Shockley:Phys. Rev., 1950, vol. 78, p. 275.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  99. SeeGrain Boundary Structure and Kinetics, Am. Soc. Metals, Metals Park, OH, 1980.

  100. F. C. Frank: inReport of the Conf. on Defects in Crystalline Solids, Physical Society, London, 1955, p. 159; in Report of the Symposium on the Plastic Deformation of Crystalline Solids, Carnegie Inst. Tech., Pittsburgh, PA, 1950, p. 150.

    Google Scholar 

  101. C. Somigliana:Atti. Accad. naz. Lincei Rc., 1912, vol. 23, p. 463; 1915, vol. 24, p. 655.

    Google Scholar 

  102. See S. Amelinckx and W. Dekeyser:Solid State Phys., 1959, vol. 8, p. 325.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  103. W. Bollmann:Crystal Defects and Crystalline Interfaces, Springer, Berlin, 1970.

    Google Scholar 

  104. F.C. Frank and W.T. Read: in Report of the Symposium on the Plastic Deformation of Crystalline Solids, Carnegie Inst. Tech., Pittsburgh, PA, 1950, p. 44; Phys. Rev., 1950, vol. 79, p. 722.

    Google Scholar 

  105. W.G. Johnston and J.J. Gilman:J. Appl. Phys., 1960, vol. 31, p. 632.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  106. J. S. Koehler:Phys. Rev., 1952, vol. 86, p. 52.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  107. F.C. Frank:Report of Conf. on Strength of Solids, Phys. Soc., London, 1948, p. 46.

    Google Scholar 

  108. G. Leibfried:Z. Phys., 1950, vol. 127, p. 344.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  109. J. Bardeen and C. Herring: inImperfections in Nearly Perfect Crystals, Wiley, New York, NY, 1952, p. 261.

    Google Scholar 

  110. J. D. Eshelby, F. C. Frank, and F. R. N. Nabarro:Phil. Mag., 1951, vol. 42, p. 351.

    Google Scholar 

  111. Y. T. Chou and J. C. M. Li: inMath. Theory of Dislocations, T. Mura, ed., Am. Soc. Mech. Eng., New York, NY, 1969, p. 116.

    Google Scholar 

  112. F. R. N. Nabarro:Theory of Crystal Dislocations, Oxford Univ. Press, London, 1967, p. 199.

    Google Scholar 

  113. W. Barlow:Nature, 1883, vol. 29, pp. 186, 404.

    Google Scholar 

  114. J. Frenkel and T. Kontorova:Fiz. Zh., 1939, vol. 1, p. 137.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  115. F. C. Frank:Proc. Phys. Soc. London, 1949, vol. 62A, p. 202.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  116. N. Thompson:Proc. Phys. Soc. London, 1953, vol. 66B, p. 481.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  117. A.H. Cottrell and B. A. Bilby:Phil. Mag., 1951, vol. 42, p. 573.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  118. V. Vitek, R. C. Perrin, and D. K. Bowen:Phil. Mag., 1970, vol. 21, p. 1049.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  119. Z.S. Basinski, M.S. Duesbery, and R. Taylor:Phil. Mag., 1970, vol. 21, p. 1201.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  120. V. Vitek:Cryst. Lattice Defects, 1974, vol. 5, p. 1.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  121. A. Seeger and C. Wüthrich:Nuovo Cim., 1976, vol. 33B, p. 38.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  122. R.D. Heidenreich:J. Appl. Phys., 1949, vol. 20, p. 993.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  123. P.B. Hirsch, R.W. Horne, and M.J. Whelan:Phil. Mag., 1956, vol. 1, p. 677.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  124. W. Bollmann:Phys. Rev., 1956, vol. 103, p. 1588.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  125. S. Amelinckx:Solid State Phys., Suppl. 6, Acad. Press, New York, NY, 1964.

    Google Scholar 

  126. S. Amelinckx: inDislocations in Solids, F. R. N. Nabarro, ed., North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1979, vol. 2, p. 67.

    Google Scholar 

  127. W. L. Bragg and J. F. Nye:Proc. Roy. Soc. London, 1947, vol. A190, p. 474.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  128. F. C. Frank:Disc. Faraday Soc., 1949, vol. 5, p. 48.

    Google Scholar 

  129. W.C. Dash:J. Appl. Phys., 1956, vol. 27, p. 1193.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  130. E. W. Müller:Acta Metall., 1958, vol. 6, p. 620.

    Google Scholar 

Bibliography

  1. W.T. Read, Jr.:Dislocations in Crystals, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, 1953.

    Google Scholar 

  2. A. H. Cottrell:Dislocations and Plastic Flow in Crystals, Oxford Univ. Press, 1953.

  3. J. Friedel:Les Dislocations, Gauthier-Villars, Paris, 1956;Dislocations, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1964.

    Google Scholar 

  4. E. Kröner:Kontinuums theorie der Versetzungen und Eigenspannungen, Springer, Berlin, 1958.

    Google Scholar 

  5. J. Weertman and J. R. Weertman:Elementary Dislocation Theory, Macmillan, New York, NY, 1964.

    Google Scholar 

  6. R. Bullough:Dislocations, Atomic Energy Res. Estab., Harwell, 1964.

    Google Scholar 

  7. D. Hull:Introduction to Dislocations, Pergamon, Oxford, 1965; D. J. Bacon and D. Hull: 3rd ed., in press, 1984.

    Google Scholar 

  8. F. R. N. Nabarro:Theory of Crystal Dislocations, Oxford Univ. Press, 1967.

  9. J. P. Hirth and J. Lothe:Theory of Dislocations, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY, 1968; 2nd ed., Wiley, New York, NY, 1982.

    Google Scholar 

  10. T. Mura:Mathematical Theory of Dislocations, Am. Soc. Mech. Engin., New York, NY, 1969.

    Google Scholar 

  11. J. W. Steeds:Anisotropic Elastic Theory of Dislocations, Clarendon, Oxford, 1973.

    Google Scholar 

  12. R. W. Lardner:Mathematical Theory of Dislocations and Fracture, Univ. of Toronto press, 1974.

  13. C. Teodosiu:Modele Elastice ale Defectelor Cristaline, Edit. Acad. Rep. Soc. Romania, Bucarest, 1977;Elastic Models of Crystal Defects, Springer, Berlin, 1982.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Dislocations in Solids, Vols. I-VI, F.R.N. Nabarro, ed., NorthHolland, Amsterdam, 1979–84.

  15. T. Mura:Micromechanics of Defects in Solids, Nijhoff, The Hague, 1982.

    Google Scholar 

  16. V. L. Indenbom and J. Lothe:Elastic Strain Fields and Dislocation Mobility, North Holland, Amsterdam, in preparation, 1984.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Additional information

This paper is based on a presentation made at the symposium “50th Anniversary of the Introduction of Dislocations” held at the fall meeting of the TMS-AIME in Detroit, Michigan in October 1984 under the TMS-AIME Mechanical Metallurgy and Physical Metallurgy Committees.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Hirth, J.P. A brief history of dislocation theory. Metall Trans A 16, 2085–2090 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02670413

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02670413

Keywords

Navigation