Deformation mechanism in NiAl single crystals at low temperatures

Available data on the temperature dependence of yield stress and of associated activation volume of high-purity NiAl single crystals between 76 and 205 K have been analyzed within the framework of a solid-solution hardening model, which is based on the concept of depinning of an edge-dislocation segment from several randomly dispersed, isolated, point defects simultaneously. The vacancies in NiAl single crystals act as point-defect obstacles to the stress-assisted thermally-activated glide of edge dislocations, and their concentration is estimated as about 10 at.%. The product of yield stress and associated activation volume (≈0.146 eV) is found to be independent of temperature and yield stress, as envisaged in the model.