Defect structure of gold introduced by high-speed deformation

The effect of deformation speed on defect structures introduced into bulk gold specimens at 298 K has been investigated systematically over a wide range of strain rate from ′=10⁻² to 10⁶ s⁻¹. As strain rate increased, dislocation structure changed from heterogeneous distribution, so-called cell structure, to random distribution. Also, stacking fault tetrahedra (SFTs) were produced at anomalously high density by deformation at high strain rate. The anomalous production of SFTs observed at high strain rate is consistent with the characteristic microstructure induced by dislocation-free plastic deformation, which has been recently reported in deformation of gold thin foils. Thus, the results of the present study indicate that high-speed deformation induces an abnormal mechanism of plastic deformation, which falls beyond the scope of dislocation theory. Numerical analysis of dislocation structure and SFTs revealed that the transition point of variation of deformation mode is around the strain rate of 10³ s⁻¹.