2. Cold behavior laws

We will only deal here with the practical case of polycrystals, which is covered by the theory of plasticity (on a macroscopic scale). The behavior of these materials will be considered incompressible, and elastic deformations negligible. The brief summary given below is intended to introduce the main concepts before showing their relationship with the meso- and microstructural scales. Readers interested in further details are referred to the "For further information" section [Doc. M 3 030] .