Molecular dynamics simulation of the interaction between a mixed dislocation and a stacking fault tetrahedron

A high number-density of nanometer-sized stacking fault tetrahedra are commonly found during irradiation of low stacking fault energy metals. The stacking fault tetrahedra act as obstacles to dislocation motion leading to increased yield strength and decreased ductility. Thus, an improved understanding of the interaction between gliding dislocations and stacking fault tetrahedra are critical to reliably predict the mechanical properties of irradiated materials. Many studies have investigated the interaction of a screw or edge dislocation with a stacking fault tetrahedron (SFT). However, atomistic studies of a mixed dislocation interaction with an SFT are not available, even though mixed dislocations are the most common. In this paper, molecular dynamics simulation results of the interaction between a mixed dislocation and an SFT in face-centered cubic copper are presented. The interaction results in shearing, partial absorption, destabilization or simple bypass of the SFT, depending on the interaction geometry. However, the SFT was not completely annihilated, absorbed or collapsed during a single interaction with a mixed dislocation. These observations, combined with simulation results of edge or screw dislocations, suggest that defect-free channel formation in irradiated copper is not likely by a single dislocation sweeping or destruction process, but rather by a complex mix of multiple shearing, partial absorption and defect cluster transportation that ultimately reduces the size of stacking fault tetrahedra within a localized region.     

Atomic-scale study of dislocation–stacking fault tetrahedron interactions. Part I: mechanisms

Stacking fault tetrahedra (SFTs) are formed under irradiation in fcc metals and alloys. The high number density of SFTs observed suggests that they should contribute to radiation-induced hardening and, therefore, be taken into account when estimating mechanical property changes of irradiated materials. The key issue in this is to describe the interaction between a moving dislocation and an individual SFT, which is distinguished by a small physical size of the order of ～1–10?nm. We have performed atomistic simulations of edge and screw dislocations interacting with SFTs of different sizes at different temperatures and strain rates. Five possible interaction outcomes have been identified, involving either partial absorption, or shearing or restoration of SFTs. The mechanisms that give rise to these processes are described and their dependence on interaction parameters, such as SFT size, dislocation–SFT geometry, temperature and stress/strain rate are determined. Mechanisms that help to explain the formation of defect-free channels cleared by gliding dislocations, as observed experimentally, are also discussed. Hardening due to the various mechanisms and their dependence on loading conditions will be presented in a following paper (Part II).     

Closed and open-ended stacking fault tetrahedra formation along the interfaces of Cu–Al nanolayered metals

Stacking fault tetrahedra (SFTs) are volume defects that typically form by the clustering of vacancies in face-centred cubic (FCC) metals. Here, we report a dislocation-based mechanism of SFT formation initiated from the semi-coherent interfaces of Cu–Al nanoscale multilayered metals subjected to out-of-plane tension. Our molecular dynamics simulations show that Shockley partials are first emitted into the Cu interlayers from the dissociated misfit dislocations along the Cu–Al interface and interact to form SFTs above the triangular intrinsic stacking faults along the interface. Under further deformation, Shockley partials are also emitted into the Al interlayers and interact to form SFTs above the triangular FCC planes along the interface. The resulting dislocation structure comprises closed SFTs within the Cu interlayers which are tied across the Cu–Al interfaces to open-ended SFTs within the Al interlayers. This unique plastic deformation mechanism results in considerable strain hardening of the Cu–Al nanolayered metal, which achieves its highest tensile strength at a critical interlayer thickness of ~4 nm corresponding to the highest possible density of complete SFTs within the nanolayer structure.     

Mechanisms of stacking fault tetrahedra destruction by gliding dislocations in quenched gold

The destruction processes of stacking fault tetrahedra (SFTs) induced by gliding dislocations were examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) in situ straining experiments for SFTs with edge lengths ranging from 10 to 50 nm. At least four distinct SFT destruction processes were identified: (1) consistent with a Kimura–Maddin model for both screw and 60° dislocations, (2) stress-induced SFT collapse into a triangular Frank loop, (3) partial annihilation leaving an apex portion and (4) complete annihilation. Process (4) was observed at room temperature only for small SFTs (～10 nm); however, this process was also frequently observed for larger SFTs (～30 nm) at higher temperature (～853 K). When this process was induced, the dislocation always cross-slipped, indicating only screw dislocations can induce this process.     

强流脉冲电子束辐照诱发多晶纯铝中的空位缺陷簇结构

利用强流脉冲电子束（HCPEB）技术对多晶纯铝样品进行辐照,采用透射电子显微镜详细分析了辐照诱发的空位簇缺陷.HCPEP辐照后,在辐照表层内形成了大量的四方形空位胞,其间包含位错圈和堆垛层错四面体（SFT）等类型的空位簇缺陷.1次辐照后,空位胞内产生空位型位错圈,5次辐照则主要产生SFT;10次辐照后,空位胞内产生的空位簇缺陷主要是位错圈,局部区域也观察到了SFT缺陷,在产生SFT的附近区域具有很低的位错密度或者几乎无位错出现.HCPEB辐照产生的瞬间加热和冷却诱发了幅值极大且应变速率极高的应力,这一因素 关键词： 强流脉冲电子束 多晶纯铝 空位簇缺陷 堆垛层错四面体     

A dislocation dynamics study of the strength of stacking fault tetrahedra. Part II: interactions with mixed and edge dislocations

In this paper we present the sequel to Part I and present a comprehensive dislocation dynamics study of the strength of stacking fault tetrahedra to mixed and edge dislocation glides in fcc Cu.     

Atomistic Simulations of the Effect of Helium on the Dissociation of Screw Dislocations in Nickel

The interactions of He with dissociated screw dislocations in face-centered-cubic(fcc) Ni are investigated by using molecular dynamics simulations based on an embedded-atom method model.The binding and formation energies of interstitial He in and near Shockley partial cores are calculated.The results show that interstitial He atoms at tetrahedral sites in the perfect fcc lattice and atoms occupying sites one plane above or below one of the two Shockley partial cores exhibit the strongest binding energy.The attractive or repulsive nature of the interaction between interstitial He and the screw dislocation depends on the relative position of He to these strong binding sites.In addition,the effect of He on the dissociation of screw dislocations are investigated.It is found that He atoms homogeneously distributed in the glide plane can reduce the stacking fault width.     

Molecular dynamic studies of the interaction of a/6⟨112⟩ Shockley dislocations with stacking fault tetrahedra in copper. Part II: Intersection of stacking fault tetrahedra by moving twin boundaries

The interactions of moving twin boundaries with stacking fault tetrahedra (SFTs) have been studied by molecular dynamics. The results reveal a spectrum of processes occurring during these interactions. In general, they lead to damage of the parent SFT and formation of new defects in the twin lattice. The character of these defects depends on the nature of the twinning front, the size of the SFT and its orientation with respect to incoming dislocations. Typical structures that may be produced in the twin include product-SFTs, free vacancies, planar stacking faults bounded by partial dislocations, mutually linked stacking faults on non-coplanar {111} _T planes, small {111} _T tetrahedra and their partial forms. Dislocation mechanisms involved in the formation of these defects are being analyzed.     

Mesoscopic analysis of structure and strength of dislocation junctions in fcc metals

We develop a finite-element-based nodal dislocation dynamics model to simulate the structure and strength of dislocation junctions in fcc crystals. The model is based on anisotropic elasticity theory supplemented by the explicit inclusion of the separation of perfect dislocations into partial dislocations bounding a stacking fault. We demonstrate that the model reproduces in precise detail the structure of the Lomer-Cottrell lock already obtained from atomistic simulations. In light of this success, we also examine the strength of junctions culminating in a stress-strength diagram which is the locus of points in stress space corresponding to dissolution of the junction.     

Direct transformation of vacancy voids to stacking fault tetrahedra

Defect accumulation is the principal factor leading to the swelling and embrittlement of materials during irradiation. It is commonly assumed that, once defect clusters nucleate, their structure remains essentially constant while they grow in size. Here, we describe a new mechanism, discovered during accelerated molecular dynamics simulations of vacancy clusters in fcc metals, that involves the direct transformation of a vacancy void to a stacking fault tetrahedron (SFT) through a series of 3D structures. This mechanism is in contrast with the collapse to a 2D Frank loop which then transforms to an SFT. The kinetics of this mechanism are characterized by an extremely large rate prefactor, tens of orders of magnitude larger than is typical of atomic processes in fcc metals.     

Subsurface defect evolution and crystal-structure transformation of single-crystal copper in nanoscale combined machining

ABSTRACT

In the paper, molecular dynamics simulation is applied to study the evolution and distribution of subsurface defects during nanoscale machining process of single-crystal copper. The chip-removal mechanism and the machined-surface-generative mechanism are examined through analysis of the dislocation evolution and atomic migration of the workpieces. The findings show that under different stresses and temperatures, the difference of the binding energy leads to a zoned phenomenon in the chip. Owing to elastic deformation, some of the dislocations could be recovered and form surface steps; moreover, the work hardening of the workpiece can be achieved on account of generation of twin boundaries, Lomer-Cottrell dislocations, and stacking fault tetrahedra (SFT) by plastic deformation. A process of evolution of an immobile dislocation group containing stair-rod dislocations into SFT is discovered, which is different from the traditional Silcox-Hirsch mechanism. Furthermore, a growth oscillation phenomenon, which corresponding stacking fault planes growth and retraction during the formation of the stable SFT, is discussed.     

面心立方晶体外延膜沉积生长中失配位错的结构与形成过程

用分子动力学方法对5%负失配条件下面心立方晶体铝薄膜的原子沉积外延生长进行了三维模拟.铝原子间的相互作用采用嵌入原子法(EAM)多体势计算.模拟结果再现了失配位错的形成现象.分析表明，失配位错在形成之初即呈现为Shockley扩展位错，即由两个伯格斯矢量为〈211〉/6的部分位错和其间的堆垛层错组成，两个部分位错的间距、即层错宽度为1.8 nm,与理论计算结果一致；外延晶体薄膜沉积生长中，位错对会发生滑移，但其间距保持稳定.进一步观察发现，该扩展位错产生于一种类似于“局部熔融-重结晶”的表层局部无序紊乱- 关键词： 失配位错 外延生长 薄膜 分子动力学 铝     

Atomic-scale plasticity in the presence of Frank loops

The different reactions between edge or screw dislocations and interstitial Frank loops were studied by means of molecular dynamics simulations. The calculations were performed at 600?K using an embedded atom method (EAM) potential describing a model FCC material with a low stacking fault energy. An interaction matrix that provides the corresponding interaction strength was determined. In an attempt to investigate the role of pile-ups, simulations with either one or two dislocations in the cell were performed. We find that screw and edge dislocations behave very differently. Edge dislocations shear Frank loops in two out of three cases, while screw dislocations systematically unfault Frank loops by mechanisms that involve cross-slip. After unfaulting, they are strongly pinned by the formation of extended helical turns. The simulations show an original unpinning effect that leads to clear band broadening. This process involves the junction of two screw dislocations around a helical turn (arm-exchange) and the transfer of a dislocation from its initial glide plane to an upper glide plane (elevator effect).     

Dislocation glide through non-randomly distributed point obstacles

Abstract

Classical meso-scale models for dislocation–obstacle interactions have, by and large, assumed a random distribution of obstacles on the glide plane. While a good approximation in many situations, this does not represent materials where obstacles are clustered on the glide plane. In this work, we have investigated the statistical problem of a dislocation sampling a set of clustered point obstacles in the glide plane using a modified areal-glide model. The results of these simulations show two clear regimes. For weak obstacles, the spatial distribution does not matter and the critically resolved shear stress is found to be independent of the degree of clustering. In contrast, above a critical obstacle strength determined by the degree of clustering, the critical resolved shear strength becomes constant. It is shown that this behaviour can be explained semi-analytically by considering the probability of interaction between the dislocation line and obstacles at a given level of stress. The consequences for alloys exhibiting solute clustering are discussed.     

Temperature-dependent ideal strength and stacking fault energy of fcc Ni: a first-principles study of shear deformation

Variations of energy, stress, and magnetic moment of fcc Ni as a response to shear deformation and the associated ideal shear strength (τ(IS)), intrinsic (γ(SF)) and unstable (γ(US)) stacking fault energies have been studied in terms of first-principles calculations under both the alias and affine shear regimes within the {111} slip plane along the <112> and <110> directions. It is found that (i) the intrinsic stacking fault energy γ(SF) is nearly independent of the shear deformation regimes used, albeit a slightly smaller value is predicted by pure shear (with relaxation) compared to the one from simple shear (without relaxation); (ii) the minimum ideal shear strength τ(IS) is obtained by pure alias shear of {111}<112>; and (iii) the dissociation of the 1/2[110] dislocation into two partial Shockley dislocations (1/6[211] + 1/6[121]) is observed under pure alias shear of {111}<110>. Based on the quasiharmonic approach from first-principles phonon calculations, the predicted γ(SF) has been extended to finite temperatures. In particular, using a proposed quasistatic approach on the basis of the predicted volume versus temperature relation, the temperature dependence of τ(IS) is also obtained. Both the γ(SF) and the τ(IS) of fcc Ni decrease with increasing temperature. The computed ideal shear strengths as well as the intrinsic and unstable stacking fault energies are in favorable accord with experiments and other predictions in the literature.     

Point defect processes in neutron irradiated Ni,Fe–15Cr–16Ni and Ti-added modified SUS316SS

The defect structures in Ni, Fe–15Cr–16Ni and Ti-added modified SUS316SS (modified SUS316) were examined after neutron irradiation below 0.3 dpa by the Japan Materials Testing Reactor and Belgian Reactor 2 to compare their defect structural evolution. The growth behaviour of interstitial-type dislocation loops (I-loops), stacking fault tetrahedra (SFTs) and voids was found to be quite different among these specimens. I-loops developed at lower temperatures in Ni than in Fe–15Cr–16Ni and modified SUS316, and more swelling occurred in Ni than in Fe–15Cr–16Ni. Finally, there were no voids in modified SUS316. These results were analysed in terms of the I-loop energy. A large discrepancy was found between the analytical results and experimental observations for Ni and modified SUS316, which suggests the formation of unfaulted I-loops directly from collision cascades. The growth of SFTs was detected in Fe–15Cr–16Ni and modified SUS316, and can be explained by a change in the dislocation bias of SFTs resulting from the absorption of alloying elements.     

Stacking faults and partial dislocations in graphene

We investigate two mechanisms of crystallographic slip in graphene, corresponding to glide and shuffle generalized stacking faults (GSF), and compute their γ-curves using Sandia National Laboratories Large-scale Atomic/Molecular Massively Parallel Simulator (LAMMPS). We find evidence of metastable partial dislocations for the glide GSF only. The computed values of the stable and unstable stacking-fault energies are suggestive of a high stability of full dislocations against dissociation and of dislocation dipoles against annihilation.     

Dislocation dynamics simulations with climb: kinetics of dislocation loop coarsening controlled by bulk diffusion

Dislocation climb mobilities, assuming vacancy bulk diffusion, are derived and implemented in dislocation dynamics simulations to study the coarsening of vacancy prismatic loops in fcc metals. When loops cannot glide, comparison of the simulations with a coarsening model based on the line tension approximation shows good agreement. Dislocation dynamics simulations with both glide and climb are then performed. Allowing for glide of the loops along their prismatic cylinders leads to faster coarsening kinetics, as direct coalescence of the loops is now possible.