The mechanisms of dislocation intersection and strain hardening in fcc crystals are examined with emphasis on the process of junction formation and destruction. Large-scale 3D simulations of dislocation dynamics were performed yielding access for the first time to statistically averaged quantities. These simulations provide a parameter-free estimate of the dislocation microstructure strength and of its scaling law. It is shown that forest hardening is dominated by short-range elastic processes and is insensitive to the detail of the dislocation core structure.

• Received 14 March 2002

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.89.255508