Dislocation patterns and the similitude principle: 2.5D mesoscale simulations.

During plastic flow of crystalline solids, dislocations self-organize in the form of patterns, with a wavelength that is inversely proportional to stress. After four decades of investigations, the origin of this property is still under discussion. We show that dislocation patterns verifying the principle of similitude can be obtained from dynamics simulations of double slip. These patterns are formed in the presence of long- and short-range interactions, but they are not significantly modified when only short-range interactions are present. This new insight into dislocation patterning phenomena has important implications regarding current models.