Thermodynamic theory of crystal plasticity – formulation and application to fcc copper

We present a thermodynamic description of crystal plasticity. Our formulation is based on the thermodynamic dislocation theory (TDT) of Langer et al., which asserts the fundamental importance of an effective temperature that describes the state of configurational disorder and therefore the dislocation density of the crystalline material. We extend the TDT description from isotropic plasticity to crystal plasticity with many slip systems. Finite-element simulations show favourable comparison with experiments on polycrystal fcc copper under uniaxial compression. The thermodynamic theory of crystal plasticity thus provides a thermodynamically consistent and physically rigorous description of dislocation motion in crystals. We also discuss new insights about the interaction of dislocations belonging to different slip systems.