The role of dissipation and defect energy in variational formulations of problems in strain-gradient plasticity. Part 2: single-crystal plasticity

Variational formulations are constructed for rate-independent problems in small-deformation single-crystal strain-gradient plasticity. The framework, based on that of Gurtin (J Mech Phys Solids 50: 5-32, 2002), makes use of the flow rule expressed in terms of the dissipation function. Provision is made for energetic and dissipative microstresses. Both recoverable and non-recoverable defect energies are incorporated into the variational framework. The recoverable energies include those that depend smoothly on the slip gradients, the Burgers tensor, or on the dislocation densities (Gurtin et al. J Mech Phys Solids 55: 1853-1878, 2007), as well as an energy proposed by Ohno and Okumura (JMech Phys Solids 55: 1879-1898, 2007), which leads to excellent agreement with experimental results, and which is positively homogeneous and therefore not differentiable at zero slip gradient. Furthermore, the variational formulation accommodates a non-recoverable energy due to Ohno et al. (Int J Mod Phys B 22:5937-5942, 2008), which is also positively homogeneous, and a function of the accumulated dislocation density. Conditions for the existence and uniqueness of solutions are established for the various examples of defect energy, with or without the presence of hardening or slip resistance.