Gleitsysteme
Gleitsysteme are the characteristic planes and directions along which dislocations glide in crystals, enabling plastic deformation. They consist of a slip plane and a slip direction and are determined by the crystal structure as well as the orientation of the applied stress. The activity of a Gleitsystem depends on the resolved shear stress on that system and the material’s critical resolved shear stress (CRSS). Schmid's law describes how the external load projects onto a given Gleitsystem to produce glide.
In face-centered cubic (FCC) crystals, there are 12 independent Gleitsysteme: the four {111} slip planes combined
In body-centered cubic (BCC) crystals, the situation is more complex and temperature dependent. Commonly activated systems
In hexagonal close-packed (HCP) crystals, Gleitsysteme are more limited. The basal system {0001} with <11-20>, the
Factors influencing Gleitsystem activity include temperature, composition, interstitials and impurities, internal stresses, and strain rate. The