Metal behavior at extreme loading rates

At extreme loading rates some metals exhibit behavior that is characteristic of a thermodynamically open system. This openness results from a rapid movement of dislocations carrying energy between distant material points. In such instances, metals form organized meso-structures such as dislocation cells and/or coarse slip bands. With an average dislocation velocity approaching critical velocity, the material experiences a mesoscale dynamic excitation that in turn causes further rearrangement of the material’s microstructure. It is shown that voids play a stabilizing role in metals. The analysis suggests that void nucleation and growth impedes the process of defect (dislocation) selforganization.