Homogenization of edge-dislocations as a weak limit of de-Rham currents

In the material science literature we find two continuum models for crystalline defects: (i) A body with (finite) isolated defects is typically modeled as a Riemannian manifold with singularities, and (ii) a body with continuously distributed defects, which is modeled as a smooth (non-singular) Riemannian manifold with an additional structure of an affine connection. In this work we show how continuously distributed defects may be obtained as a limit of singular ones . The defect structure is represented by layering 1-forms and their singular counterparts - de-Rham (n-1) currents. We then show that every smooth layering $1$-form may be obtained as a limit, in the sense of currents, of singular layering forms, corresponding to arrays of edge dislocations. As a corollary, we investigated manifolds with full material structure, i.e., a complete co-frame for the co-tangent bundle. We define the notion of singular torsion current for manifolds with a parallel structure and prove its convergence to the regular smooth torsion tensor at homogenization limit. Thus establishing the so-called emergence of torsion at the homogenization limit.