Elastodynamic image forces on screw dislocations in the presence of phase boundaries

The elastodynamic image forces acting on straight screw dislocations in the presence of planar phase boundaries are derived. Two separate dislocations are studied: (i) the injected, non-moving screw dislocation and (ii) the injected (or pre-existing), generally non-uniformly moving screw dislocation. The image forces are derived for both the case of a rigid surface and of a planar interface between two homogeneous, isotropic phases. The case of a rigid interface is shown to be solvable employing Head's image dislocation construction. The case of the elastodynamic image force due to an interface is solved by deriving the reflected wave's contribution to the global solution across the interface. This entails obtaining the fundamental solution (Green's function) for a point unit force via Cagniard's method, and then applying the convolution theorem for a screw dislocation modelled as a force distribution. Complete, explicit formulae are provided when available. It is shown that the elastodynamic image forces are generally affected by retardation effects, and that those acting on the moving dislocations display a dynamic magnification that exceed the attraction (or repulsion) predicted in classical elastostatic calculations.The author was financially supported by the Master and Fellows of Trinity College, University of Cambridge under the author’s Title A Fellowship