Investigation of basal slip nature in beryllium and its alloys

Abstract

Temperature, velocity, and concentration dependences of the critical resolved shear stress have been determined for basal slip of high‐purity beryllium (99.99 and 99.95%), Be–0.23 at % Cu, and Be–1.34 at% Cu alloys. The activation volume and activation energy of the basal slip have been calculated. The latter increases from ≈0.5 eV in pure beryllium to 1.7 eV in Be–1.34 at % Cu alloy. The basal slip in the pure metal and Be–Cu alloys is controlled by the interaction of moving dislocations with impurity atoms. The characteristics and nature of the basal slip in beryllium and other metals with hexagonal lattice (Zn, Cd, Mg) are shown to be different.