Plastic deformation mechanisms in tungsten carbide

Transmission electron microscopy studies of dislocations formed by plastic deformation in tungsten carbide have confirmed a slip deformation mechanism involving the {1 0 ¯1 0} 0 0 0 1 system. Direct visual evidence also confirmed the existence of extended dislocations formed by a suggested dissociation 1/31 1 ¯2 3=1/62 0 ¯2 3+1/60 2 ¯2 3 which can further interact with other extended dislocations on pairs of intersecting {1 1 ¯2 2} pyramidal planes. The proposed interaction is suggested as a means of reducing both dislocation strain energy and atomic misfit strains due to antiphase boundary formation and leads to a form of sessile dislocation arrangement similar to the Lomer Cottrell lock.