Elastodynamic image forces on dislocations

Abstract

The elastodynamic image forces on edge and screw dislocations in the presence of a planar-free surface are derived. The explicit form of the elastodynamic fields of an injected, quiescent screw dislocation are also derived. The resulting image forces are affected by retardation effects: the dislocations experience no image force for a period of time defined by the arrival and reflection at the free surface of the dislocation fields. For the case of injected, stationary dislocations, it is shown that the elastodynamic image force tends asymptotically to the elastotatic prediction. For the case of injected, moving dislocations, it is shown that the elastodynamic image force on both the edge and the screw dislocations is magnified by inertial effects, and becomes increasingly divergent with time; this additional effect, missing in the elastostatic description, is shown to be substantial even for slow moving dislocations. Finally, it is shown that the elastodynamic image force of an edge dislocation moving towards the surface at the Rayleigh wave speed becomes repulsive, rather than attractive; this is suggestive of instabilities at the core of the dislocation, and likely resonances with the free surface.