Abstract: Cyclic stress-strain responses and dislocation structure of copper single crystals with various tensile axes were systematically studied and compared with each other.Experimental results reveal that the evolution of microscopic dislocation configurations in a crystal and, accordingly,its macroscopic cyclic behaviours are closely related with its orientation.Re- markable secondary slip has been observed in some crystals with orientations well inside the crystallographic triangle, which are usually considered as single-slip ones.Their cyclio behaviours and dislocation structures at saturation are similar to those of their neighbouring multi-slip crystals.These results have constructed the experimental basis for the newly pro- posed dislocation interaction model Jor cyclic deformation of fee crystals,which will be des- cribed in the second part of this article.

Key words: Copper, single crystal, orientation, cyclic deformation, dislocation con, figuration, multi-slip