Plastic response by dislocation glide in solid helium under dc strain rate loading

We develop a model for the gliding of dislocations and plasticity in solid He-4. This model takes into account the Peierls barrier, multiplication and interaction of dislocations, as well as classical thermally and mechanically activated processes leading to dislocation glide. We specifically examine the dc stress-strain curve and how it is affected by temperature, strain rate, and dislocation density. As a function of temperature and shear strain, we observe plastic deformation and discuss how this may be related to the experimental observation of elastic anomalies in solid hcp He-4 that have been discussed in connection with the possibility of supersolidity or giant plasticity. Our theory gives several predictions for the dc stress strain curves, for example, the yield point and the change in the work-hardening rate and plastic dissipation peak, that can be compared directly to constant strain rate experiments and thus provide bounds on model parameters.

Dislocation induced anomalous softening of solid helium

The classical motion of gliding dislocation lines in slip planes of crystalline solid helium leads to plastic deformation even at temperatures far below the Debye temperature and can affect elastic properties. In this work we argue that the gliding of dislocations and plasticity may be the origin of many observed elastic anomalies in solid He-4, which have been argued to be connected to supersolidity. We present a dislocation motion model that describes the stress-strain $tau$-$epsilon$ curves and work hardening rate $dtau/depsilon$ of a shear experiment performed at constant strain rate $dot{epsilon}$ in solid helium. The calculated $dtau/depsilon$ exhibits strong softening with increasing temperature due to the motion of dislocations, which mimics anomalous softening of the elastic shear modulus $mu$. In the same temperature region the motion of dislocations causes dissipation with a prominent peak.