Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Cleavage Fracture of Bismuth Single Crystals

Abstract

EARLIER work1 on the tensile stress necessary to cause cleavage fracture in zinc single crystals has shown that Sohncke's law was not obeyed. (Sohncke's law states that a crystal will break when the stress normal to the cleavage plane reaches some critical value). However, it is clear from the literature2 that for some metal single crystals, notably bismuth, antimony and tellurium, Sohncke's law is obeyed. A study of the cleavage fracture of bismuth crystals was therefore undertaken in an attempt to discover the underlying cause of the difference of behaviour of zinc and bismuth.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Deruyttere, A., and Greenough, G. B., J. Inst. Metals, 84, 337 (1956).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Schmid, E., and Boas, W., “Kristallplastizitaet” (Springer, Berlin, 1935).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  3. Noggle, T. S., Rev. Sci. Instr., 24, 184 (1953).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Miers, H. A., “Mineralogy” (Macmillan, London, 1929).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Zappfe, C., Z. Metallkunde, 44, 397 (1953).

    Google Scholar 

  6. Cahn, R. W., Acta Metall., 1, 49 (1953).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Wassermann, G., Z. Krist., 75, 369 (1930).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Gyndyn, A., and Starsev, V. I., Zh. Eksper. Teor. Fiz., 20, 738 (1950).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

VICKERS, W., GREENOUGH, G. Cleavage Fracture of Bismuth Single Crystals. Nature 178, 536–537 (1956). https://doi.org/10.1038/178536a0

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/178536a0

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing