We propose a new procedure to extract information from electron tomography and use them as an input in a field dislocation mechanics. Dislocation electron tomography is an experimental technique that provides three-dimensional (3D) information on dislocation lines and Burgers vectors within a thin foil. The characterized 3D dislocation lines are used to construct the spatial distribution of the equivalent Nye dislocation density tensor. The model dislocation lattice incompatibility equation and stress balance equation are solved with a spectral code based on fast Fourier transform algorithms. As an output of the model, one obtains the 3D distribution of mechanical fields, such as strains, rotations, stresses, resolved shear stresses (RSSs) and energy, inside the material. To assess the potential of the method, we consider two regions from a previously compressed olivine sample. Our results reveal significant local variations in local stress fields and RSSs in various slip systems, which can impact the strong plastic anisotropy of olivine and the activation of different dislocation slip systems. It also evidences the built-up of kinematic hardening down to the nanometre scale.

We have investigated the microstructure of naturally deformed olivine (chemically equilibrated at 1000 degrees C) by conventional transmission electron microscopy and electron tomography. The peridotite specimen, from Oman ophiolite, has a mylonitic microstructure with remnant, strongly deformed, millimetric porphyroclasts coexisting with small newly formed olivine grains generated by dynamic recrystallization. Imaging by transmission electron microscopy reveals that both newly formed grains and porphyroclasts display [100] and [001] dislocations activity. Subgrain boundaries are composed of either [100] or [001] dislocations. The characterization of this natural sample also permits to identify sporadic [100] dislocation loops, rare [010] dislocation, infrequent melt, and intragranular bubbles or along subgrain boundaries. Electron tomography permits to identify several glide planes, which are similar to previous observations acquired on experimentally deformed polycrystalline olivine, more importantly electron tomography also permits to evidence combination of glide, climb and mixed climb (dislocation moving in an intermediate plane between the plane of glide plane and the plane of pure climb). Our study further infers the diversity of linear defects responsible for plastic deformation of olivine at lithospheric conditions.

In this study we apply electron tomography to characterize 3D dislocation microstructures in two quartz mylonite specimens from the Moine and Main Central Thrusts, both of which accommodated displacements by dislocation creep in the presence of water. Both specimens show dislocation activity with dislocation densities of the order of 3–4 × 1012 m−2 and evidence of recovery from the presence of subgrain boundaries. 〈a〉 slip occurs predominantly on pyramidal and prismatic planes (〈a〉 basal glide is not active). [c] Glide is not significant. On the other hand, we observe a very high level of activation of 〈c + a〉 glide on the , , (n = 1,2) and even planes. Approximately 60% of all dislocations show evidence of climb with a predominance of mixed climb, a deformation mechanism characterized by dislocations moving in a plane intermediate between the glide and the climb planes. This atypical mode of deformation demonstrates comparable glide and climb efficiency under natural deformation conditions. It promotes dislocation glide in planes not expected for the quartz structure, probably by inhibiting lattice friction. Our quantitative characterization of the microstructure enables us to assess the strain that dislocations can generate. We show that glide systems indicated by the observed dislocations are sufficient to accommodate any arbitrary 3D strain by themselves. Although historically dislocation glide has been regarded as being primarily responsible for producing strain, activation of climb can also directly contribute to the finite strain. On the basis of this characterization, we propose a numerical modeling approach for attempting to characterize the local stress state that gave rise to the observed microstructure.

The dislocation configurations of a Ti2AlC-MAX phase deformed under severe plastic deformation by surface mechanical attrition treatment have been analyzed by transmission electron microscopy. Results show that the microstructure of the deformed Ti2AlC sample is composed of numerous (a)-dislocations, which interact with each other notably with dipolar configurations. In addition, we report here (a)-dislocation dissociations in the basal plane with a dissociation distance of approximately 20 nm, following the reaction 31 (2110)<#.31 (1100) + 3 (1010). Finally, evidence of zonal dislocations is reported. These original results are discussed in the context of 1 the fundamental deformation mechanisms of nanolayered ternary alloys.

Transport of heat from the interior of the Earth drives convection in the mantle, which involves the deformation of solid rocks over billions of years. The lower mantle of the Earth is mostly composed of iron-bearing bridgmanite MgSiO 3 and approximately 25% volume periclase MgO (also with some iron). It is commonly accepted that ferropericlase is weaker than bridgmanite 1 . Considerable progress has been made in recent years to study assemblages representative of the lower mantle under the relevant pressure and temperature conditions 2,3 . However, the natural strain rates are 8 to 10 orders of magnitude lower than in the laboratory, and are still inaccessible to us. Once the deformation mechanisms of rocks and their constituent minerals have been identified, it is possible to overcome this limitation thanks to multiscale numerical modelling, and to determine rheological properties for inaccessible strain rates. In this work we use 2.5-dimensional dislocation dynamics to model the low-stress creep of MgO periclase at lower mantle pressures and temperatures. We show that periclase deforms very slowly under these conditions, in particular, much more slowly than bridgmanite deforming by pure climb creep. This is due to slow diffusion of oxygen in periclase under pressure. In the assemblage, this secondary phase hardly participates in the deformation, so that the rheology of the lower mantle is very well described by that of bridgmanite. Our results show that drastic changes in deformation mechanisms can occur as a function of the strain rate.

This deposits contains the files related to the Dislocation Dynamics calculations of creep in MgO presented in the paper