Plastic homology of bcc metals

Abstract
The temperature dependence of the yield stress T c of four bcc transition metals α-Fe, Nb, Mo and Ta, and an alkali metal K as well, follows a scaling relation of T c/T p against kT/b 3(TpKT)½, where T p is the Peierls stress, b the length of the Burgers vector and K T the line tension factor for a screw dislocation calculated for elastic anisotropy. The same relation seems to apply for the other three bcc transition metals V, Cr and W, suggesting its general applicability at least for low strain rates (about 10−4 s−1). The result implies that the plasticity of bcc metals is characterized by only one non-elastic parameter, the Peierls stress T p.