Microdeformation of [111] iron whiskers

Iron whiskers with [111] growth direction were subjected to a tensile stress and simultaneously observed by X-ray transmission topography. The initiation of the deformation occurred in the part of the whisker which revealed grown-in lattice defects. The distorted area propagated not only as a result of increasing the tensile stress but also during its relaxation at constant elongation. The dislocations introduced during the deformation were of the same type as grown-in dislocations. Increasing the stress led to a non-uniform rotation of the crystal lattice during the deformation. The axis of rotation was found to be [33] for one whisker and [111] for another one.