Effect of source strength on dislocation pileups in the presence of stress gradients

The behaviour of a dislocation pileup with a finite-strength source is investigated in the presence of various stress gradients within a continuum model where a free-dislocation region exists around the source. Expressions for dislocation density and stress field within the pileup are derived for the situation where there are first and second spatial gradients in applied stress. For a pileup configuration under an applied stress, yielding occurs when the force acting on the leading dislocations at the pileup tips reaches the obstacle strength, and at the same time, it is required that the source be at the threshold stress for dislocation production. A numerical methodology is presented to solve the underlying equations that represent the yielding conditions. The yield stress calculated for a pileup configuration is found to depend on stress gradients, obstacle spacing and source/obstacle strengths. It increases with increasing the first stress gradient, yet dependent on the second stress gradient. Furthermore, while the dependency of yield stress on the obstacle spacing intensifies with increasing the first stress gradient, it diminishes with an increase of second stress gradient. Therefore, the second stress gradient, as a newly introduced parameter, can provide a new physical insight into the size-dependent plasticity phenomena at small length scales.     

Dislocation dynamic modelling of the brittle–ductile transition in tungsten

Brittle–ductile transitions in metals, ceramics and semiconductors are closely connected with dislocation activity emanating near to crack-tips. We have simulated the evolution of crack-tip plasticity using a two-dimensional dislocation dynamics model which has been developed to include two symmetric slip planes intersecting the crack-tip, and applied to single-crystal tungsten. The dislocation mobility law used was physically based on double-kink nucleation on screw dislocations, with an activation energy reduced by the local stress. Even in the strong stress gradients near a crack-tip, the dislocations are found to self-organise so that the internal stress in the array is effectively constant with time and position over a wide range of strain rates and temperatures. The resultant net activation energy for dislocation motion is found to be constant and close to the activation energy experimentally measured for the brittle–ductile transition. Use of a fracture criterion based on the local crack-tip stress intensity factor, as modified by the stresses from the emitted dislocations, allows explicit prediction of the form and temperature of the brittle–ductile transition. Predictions are found to be in very close agreement with experiment.     

不同加载条件下位错和溶质原子交互作用的数值模拟

动态应变时效,即位错和溶质原子的动态交互作用,对合金材料的力学性质产生重要影响. 本文基于蒙特卡罗方法,建立了“多位错-溶质原子” 二维动力学模型,分别模拟了单位错-恒定应力率、多位错-无应力、多位错-恒定应力和多位错-恒定应力率四种条件下位错和溶质原子的演化过程. 单位错-恒定应力率情况下,低应力率时位错被溶质原子钉扎而无法脱钉,高应力率时位错未被钉扎而一直运动,只有在适当应力率范围内,位错才呈现出反复的钉扎和脱钉;多位错-无应力时,溶质原子向正/负位错的下/上方偏聚;多位错-恒定应力时,位错运动受溶质原子钉扎的影响随应力增大而减小;多位错-恒定应力率时,集群化的钉扎和脱钉过程导致了位错总位移呈现阶梯状的演化. 模拟结果表明：“位错-溶质原子”尺度上呈现了动态应变时效微观过程,与其理论描述相一致. 关键词： 动态应变时效 动力学模型 位错运动     

Surface stress mediated image force and torque on an edge dislocation

The proximity of interfaces gives prominence to image forces experienced by dislocations. The presence of surface stress alters the traction-free boundary conditions existing on free-surfaces and hence is expected to alter the magnitude of the image force. In the current work, using a combined simulation of surface stress and an edge dislocation in a semi-infinite body, we evaluate the configurational effects on the system. We demonstrate that if the extra half-plane of the edge dislocation is parallel to the surface, the image force (glide) is not altered due to surface stress; however, the dislocation experiences a torque. The surface stress breaks the ‘climb image force’ symmetry, thus leading to non-equivalence between positive and negative climb. We discover an equilibrium position for the edge dislocation in the positive ‘climb geometry’, arising due to a competition between the interaction of the dislocation stress fields with the surface stress and the image dislocation. Torque in the climb configuration is not affected by surface stress (remains zero). Surface stress is computed using a recently developed two-scale model based on Shuttleworth’s idea and image forces using a finite element model developed earlier. The effect of surface stress on the image force and torque experienced by the dislocation monopole is analysed using illustrative 3D models.     

Formation of extended compound dislocations and barriers in the course of interdislocation reactions in FCC crystals

The behavior of compound dislocations under stress loading is considered. Dislocation configurations are onsidered for an arbitrary asymmetric intersection of reacting dislocation segments. It is demonstrated that depending on the character of dislocation segment intersection, compound dislocations of two types can be formed, one of which is destructed under increasing stress loading. In the other case, the length of the compound dislocation increases, thereby causing the formation of long extended barriers. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 3, pp. 25–30, March, 2009.     

Effect of dislocation distribution in twin boundaries on the nucleation of microcracks at the twin tip

The effect of dislocation distribution in the boundaries of an arrested twin on the nucleation of microcracks at its tip is investigated. The twin is simulated by a double step pileup (cluster) of twinning dislocations located in adjacent slip planes. The equilibrium equations for dislocations are solved numerically. Clusters with different total numbers of dislocations and with different ratios of the numbers of dislocations at the upper and lower twin boundaries are considered. The formation of microcracks as a result of coalescence of head dislocations according to the force and thermally activated mechanisms is analyzed. The equilibrium configurations of a single twin boundary and of the twin are calculated. It is found that the condition for microcrack formation at the twin tip considerably depends on the ratio of the numbers of dislocations in twin boundaries. In the limit, this condition coincides with the condition of crack formation at the tip of a single twin boundary with the same total number of dislocations. It is shown that thermally activated formation of a microrack corresponds to lower values of the critical stress.     

Shielding effect of a nano-circular inclusion acting on semi-infinite wedge cracks

The model of a screw dislocation near a semi-infinite wedge crack tip inside a nano-circular inclusion is proposed to investigate the shielding effect of nano inclusions acting on cracks. Utilizing the complex function method, the closed-form solutions of the stress fields in the matrix and the inclusion region are derived. The stress intensity factor, the image force, as well as the critical loads for dislocation emission are discussed in detail. The results show that the nano inclusion not only enhances the shielding effect exerted by the dislocation, but also provides a shielding effect itself. Moreover, dislocations may be trapped in the nano inclusion even if the matrix is softer than the inclusion. This helps the dislocation shield crack, and reduces the dislocation density within the matrix.     

Screw dislocations in the field theory of elastoplasticity

A (microscopic) static elastoplastic field theory of dislocations with moment and force stresses is considered. The relationship between the moment stress and the Nye tensor is used for the dislocation Lagrangian. We discuss the stress field of an infinitely long screw dislocation in a cylinder, a dipole of screw dislocations and a coaxial screw dislocation in a finite cylinder. The stress fields have no singularities in the dislocation core and they are modified in the core due to the presence of localized moment stress. Additionally, we calculated the elastoplastic energies for the screw dislocation in a cylinder and the coaxial screw dislocation. For the coaxial screw dislocation we find a modified formula for the so‐called Eshelby twist which depends on a specific intrinsic material length.     

单向拉伸作用下Cu(100)扭转晶界塑性行为研究

应用分子动力学方法研究了在不同扭转角度下的Cu（100）失配晶界位错结构,以及不同位错结构对晶界强度的影响.模拟结果表明：小角度扭转晶界上将形成失配位错网,失配位错密度随着晶粒之间的失配扭转角度的增加而增加.变形过程中,位错网每个单元中均产生位错形核扩展.位错之间的塞积作用影响晶界的屈服强度：随着位错网格密度的增加,位错之间的塞积作用增强,界面的屈服强度得到提高.大角度扭转晶界将形成面缺陷,在变形中位错由晶界角点处形核扩展,此时由于面缺陷位错开动应力趋于一致,因此晶界的临界屈服强度趋于定值. 关键词： 扭转晶界 失配位错网 强化机理 分子动力学     

Non-singular dislocation continuum theories: strain gradient elasticity vs. Peierls–Nabarro model

Abstract

Non-singular dislocation continuum theories are studied. A comparison between Peierls–Nabarro dislocations and straight dislocations in strain gradient elasticity is given. The non-singular displacement fields, non-singular stresses, plastic distortions and dislocation core shapes are analysed and compared for the two models. The main conclusion of this study is that due to their characteristic properties, the non-singular displacement fields, non-singular stresses and dislocation core shape of screw and edge dislocations obtained in the framework of strain gradient elasticity are more realistic and physical than the corresponding fields of the Peierls–Nabarro model. Strain gradient elasticity of dislocations is a continuum dislocation theory including a weak non-locality within the dislocation core and predicting the size and shape of the dislocation core. The dislocation core is narrower in the strain gradient elasticity dislocation model than in the Peierls–Nabarro model and more evenly distributed in two dimensions. The present analysis shows that for the modelling of the dislocation core structure the non-singular dislocation fields of strain gradient elasticity are the suitable ones.     

Interaction of dislocation pile-up with a low-angle tilt boundary: a discrete dislocation dynamics study

Abstract

The pile-up of dislocations between two low-angle tilt boundaries (LATB) in an fcc crystal was simulated using three-dimensional discrete dislocation dynamics. The LATB was constructed using glissile edge dislocations stacked on each other. The dislocations in the pile-up were chosen such that their reactions with the dislocations in the LATB resulted in glissile junctions. Parallel pairs of dislocations were inserted to a maximum allowable value estimated from theoretical expressions. A resolved shear stress was applied and increased in steps so as to move the dislocations in the pile-up towards the boundaries. The shear stress required to break the lead dislocation from the wall was determined for varying spacings between the two boundaries. The shear stress and boundary spacing followed the Hall–Petch type relation. Dislocation pile-ups without a LATB were also simulated. The spacing of the dislocations in the pile-up with LATB was found to be closer (ie higher dislocation density) than that without LATB. It was shown through analytical expressions that LATB exerts an attractive force on the dislocations in the pile-up thereby creating a denser pile-up.     

The dislocations in graphene with the correction from lattice effect

The dislocation widths and Peierls stresses of glide dislocations and shuffle dislocations in graphene have been studied by the improved Peierls-Nabarro (P-N) equation which contains the discrete correction. The discrete parameter is obtained from a simple dynamic model in which the interaction attributed to the variation of bond length and angle was considered. The restoring force in the improved P-N equation is given by the gradient of the generalized stacking fault energy surface (γ-surface). Our calculation shows that the widths of the shuffle dislocation and the glide dislocation are narrow and the width of the shuffle dislocation is about twice wider than the glide dislocation. The Peierls stress of a shuffle dislocation is one order of magnitude smaller than that of a glide dislocation. As a consequence, the shuffle dislocation moves more easily than the glide dislocation.     

Stress‐enhanced dislocation density reduction in multicrystalline silicon

Stress is generally perceived to be detrimental for multicrystalline silicon (mc‐Si), leading to dislocation multiplication during crystal growth and processing. Herein, we evaluate the role of stress as a driving force for dislocation density reduction in mc‐Si. At high temperatures, close to the melting point (>0.8T_m), we observe that the application of stress as well as the relief of residual stress, can modify the density of pre‐existing dislocations in as‐grown mc‐Si under certain conditions, leading to a net local reduction of dislocation density. (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A dislocation dynamics study of the strength of stacking fault tetrahedra. Part I: interactions with screw dislocations

We present a comprehensive dislocation dynamics (DD) study of the strength of stacking fault tetrahedra (SFT) to screw dislocation glide in fcc Cu. Our methodology explicitly accounts for partial dislocation reactions in fcc crystals, which allows us to provide more detailed insights into the dislocation–SFT processes than previous DD studies. The resistance due to stacking fault surfaces to dislocation cutting has been computed using atomistic simulations and added in the form of a point stress to our DD methodology. We obtain a value of 1658.9 MPa, which translates into an extra force resolved on the glide plane that dislocations must overcome before they can penetrate SFTs. In fact, we see they do not, leading to two well differentiated regimes: (i) partial dislocation reactions, resulting in partial SFT damage, and (ii) impenetrable SFT resulting in the creation of Orowan loops. We obtain SFT strength maps as a function of dislocation glide plane-SFT intersection height, interaction orientation, and dislocation line length. In general SFTs are weaker obstacles the smaller the encountered triangular area is, which has allowed us to derive simple scaling laws with the slipped area as the only variable. These laws suffice to explain all strength curves and are used to derive a simple model of dislocation–SFT strength. The stresses required to break through obstacles in the 2.5–4.8-nm size range have been computed to be 100–300 MPa, in good agreement with some experimental estimations and molecular dynamics calculations.     

Core structure and Peierls stress of the 90° dislocation and the 60° dislocation in aluminum investigated by the fully discrete Peierls model

The core structure, Peierls stress and core energy, etc. are comprehensively investigated for the $90^\circ$ dislocation and the $60^\circ$ dislocation in metal aluminum using the fully discrete Peierls model, and in particular thermal effects are included for temperature range $0\leq T \leq 900$ K. For the $90^\circ$ dislocation, the core clearly dissociates into two partial dislocations with the separating distance $D\sim 12$ Å, and the Peierls stress is very small $\sigma_{\rm p}<1$ kPa. The nearly vanishing Peierls stress results from the large characteristic width and a small step length of the $90^\circ$ dislocation. The $60^\circ$ dislocation dissociates into $30^\circ$ and $90^\circ$ partial dislocations with the separating distance $D\sim 11$ Å. The Peierls stress of the $60^\circ$ dislocation grows up from $1$ MPa to $2$ MPa as the temperature increases from $0$ K to $900$ K. Temperature influence on the core structures is weak for both the $90^\circ$ dislocation and the $60^\circ$ dislocation. The core structures theoretically predicted at $T=0$ K are also confirmed by the first principle simulations.     

On the elastic field and image force of dislocations in anisotropic solids and its application to GaN nanostructures

The determination of the elastic field and image force of dislocation in anisotropic media is a nontrivial problem. This work revisits Eshelby’s sextic anisotropic elasticity theory to obtain the stress field of a screw dislocation in an infinite anisotropic solid. The image force of a dislocation in an anisotropic nanowire is then derived by using the concept of ‘image dislocation’. Moreover, this work proposes to study the image force of nanorods by approximating the three-dimensional shape effect as a height-dependent shape function, which could be obtained through curve fitting of the finite element data. The analytical solution is applied to analyse image forces on different dislocations in GaN nanorods oriented along polar (c-axis) and nonpolar (a, m-axis) directions. The result shows the dislocation dissipation could be more effective in a-GaN but less in m-GaN by comparing with the standard growth of c-GaN. The approach developed in this work is applicable to other material systems. Therefore, it could contribute to a wide range of nanostructure design and fabrication for dislocation-free devices.     

The energy of dislocation dipoles

In conventional dislocation theory based on the concept of Volterra dislocations, the energy of coplanar dislocation dipoles cannot be obtained without introducing an ill-defined ad hoc annihilation distance. When the dislocations are described more realistically by Peierls dislocations, absolute values for the dipole energy can be obtained from physical arguments. It is found that when dislocations in a dipole come close, they may not annihilate each other but the dipole can collapse when the dislocations have reached a critical separation of several lattice constants.     

Strength of metallic multilayers at all length scales from analytic theory of discrete dislocation pileups

Metallic multilayers can be used as ultra-high strength coatings. They exhibit a very strong Hall–Petch-like size-effect where the mechanical strength depends on the layer thickness. This trend suggests that dislocation pileup theory can be used to predict the strength of multilayers from fundamental and microscopic material parameters. At large length scales, the behavior of multilayers can be described by a scaling law. At small length scales, the effect of discrete dislocations becomes important, and large deviation from the scaling law occurs. A complete analytic model should apply at all length scales and properly account for this dislocation discreteness effect. Such a model is proposed here. The layer thickness of multilayers are divided into four length-scale regimes, and simple analytic formulas are given for both the regime length scales and multilayer strength in each regime. The model is applied to Cu/Ni multilayers and the predicted strength is compared to experimental data. Furthermore, the predicted polycrystalline multilayer deformation map is presented.     

Size dependent deformation behaviour and dislocation mechanisms in 〈1 0 0〉 Cu nanowires

Abstract

Molecular dynamics simulations have been performed to understand the size-dependent tensile deformation behaviour of 〈1 0 0〉 Cu nanowires at 10 K. The influence of nanowire size has been examined by varying square cross-section width (d) from 0.723 to 43.38 nm using constant length of 21.69 nm. The results indicated that the yielding in all the nanowires occurs through nucleation of partial dislocations. Following yielding, the plastic deformation in small size nanowires occurs mainly by slip of partial dislocations at all strains, while in large size nanowires, slip of extended dislocations has been observed at high strains in addition to slip of partial dislocations. Further, the variations in dislocation density indicated that the nanowires with d > 3.615 nm exhibit dislocation exhaustion at small strains followed by dislocation starvation at high strains. On the other hand, small size nanowires with d < 3.615 nm displayed mainly dislocation starvation at all strains. The average length of dislocations has been found to be same and nearly constant in all the nanowires. Both the Young’s modulus and yield strength exhibited a rapid decrease at small size nanowires followed by gradual decrease to saturation at larger size. The observed linear increase in ductility with size has been correlated with the pre- and post-necking deformation. Finally, dislocation–dislocation interactions leading to the formation of various dislocation locks, the dislocation–stacking fault interactions resulting in the annihilation of stacking faults and the size dependence of dislocation–surface interactions have been discussed.     

Effect of isotropic stress on dislocation bias factor in bcc iron: an atomistic study

The effect of externally applied stress on the dislocation bias factor (BF) in bcc iron has been studied using a combination of atomistic static calculations and finite element integration. Three kinds of dislocations were considered, namely, a₀/2〈1 1 1〉{1 1 0} screw, a₀/2〈1 1 1〉{1 1 0} edge and a₀〈1 0 0〉{0 0 1} edge dislocations. The computations reveal that the isotropic crystal expansion leads to an increasing or constant dislocation bias, depending on the Burgers vector and type of dislocation. On the other hand, compressive stress reduces the dislocation bias for all the dislocations studied. Variation of the dislocation BF depending on dislocation type and Burgers vector is discussed by analysing the modification of the interaction energy landscape and the capture efficiency values for the vacancy and self-interstitial atom.