Low temperature deformation and dislocation substructure of ruthenium aluminide polycrystals

The flow behavior and dislocation substructure present in ruthenium aluminide polycrystals due to deformation at room temperature and 77 K have been studied. Dislocations with three different types of Burgers vectors have been identified after 1-2% deformation in compression at 77 K and room temperature: [100], [110] and [111]. The [100] and [110] dislocations are present with approximately equal densities, while the [111] are only occasionally observed. Trace analyses show that the majority of the dislocations are mixed in character and lie on [110] type planes. The implications of these observations with regard to the number of independent slip systems and the intrinsic deformability of this material are discussed. (C) 1999 Acta Metallurgica Inc. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.