The average velocities of dislocations moving on octahedral and cube p
lanes in Ni3Al single crystals have been measured as a function of the
resolved shear Stress (RSS) in the temperature range from 293 to 1133
K by the etch-pit technique. The RSS dependence of the velocities can
be expressed by an equation of the form upsilon = upsilon(0)(tau/tau(0
))(m) in all cases. Some of the parameters associated with the disloca
tion mobility are deduced from the experimental data. For the octahedr
al slip, the exponent m lies between 20 and 31 and the activation area
A = (81-99)b(2). For cube slip, m = 12-16 and A* = (56-84)b(2). Thre
e temperature domains have been defined where different glide systems
operate. In the first domain the dislocation can move only on the octa
hedral plane, in the second domain it can move on both octahedral and
cube planes, and in the third domain it can move only on the cube plan
e. It is found that the velocity of dislocations moving on the octahed
ral plane exhibits anomalous behaviour, consisting of a positive tempe
rature dependence of the RSS as required for a constant dislocation ve
locity and a tension-compression velocity asymmetry. No obvious anomal
ous velocity behaviour for the cube glide system was observed. All the
se results suggest that positive temperature dependence of the critica
l resolved shear stress and the tension-compression flow asymmetry in
L1(2) Ni3Al can be directly related to the behaviour of individual dis
location velocities.