Configurational force on a lattice dislocation and the Peierls stress

The solution for a crystalline edge dislocation is presented within a framework of continuum linear elasticity, and is compared with the Peierls–Nabarro solution based on a semi-discrete method. The atomic disregistry and the shear stress across the glide plane are discussed. The Peach–Koehler configurational force is introduced as the gradient of the strain energy with respect to the dislocation position between its two consecutive equilibrium positions. The core radius is assumed to vary periodically between equilibrium positions of the dislocation. The critical force is expressed in terms of the core radii or the energies of the stable and unstable equilibrium configurations. This is used to estimate the Peierls stress for both wide and narrow dislocations.     

Elastic fields of dislocation loops in three-dimensional anisotropic bimaterials

By applying semi-analytical point-force Green's functions obtained via the Stroh formulism, we derive simple line integrals to calculate the elastic displacement and stress fields for a three-dimensional dislocation loop in an anisotropic bimaterial system. The solutions for the case of anisotropy are more convenient for treating an arbitrary dislocation loop compared with traditional area integration. With this new formulation, we numerically examine the displacement, stress, and energy due to the interaction between a dislocation loop and the bimaterial interface in an Al–Cu system. The interactive image energy due to the elastic moduli mismatch across the interface is then numerically evaluated. The result shows that a dislocation loop is subjected to an attractive force by the interface when it lies in the stiff material, and a repulsive force when it lies in the soft material. Moreover, the dependence of the interactive image energy of a dislocation loop on the position and size of the dislocation loop are also demonstrated and discussed. Significantly, it is found that the interactive image energy for a dislocation loop depends only on the ratio d/a, where a is the loop diameter and d is its distance to the interface. The examples studied provide benchmark solutions for anisotropic bimaterial dislocation problems.     

Line-integral representations for the elastic displacements,stresses and interaction energy of arbitrary dislocation loops in transversely isotropic bimaterials

The elastic displacements, stresses and interaction energy of arbitrarily shaped dislocation loops with general Burgers vectors in transversely isotropic bimaterials (i.e. joined half-spaces) are expressed in terms of simple line integrals for the first time. These expressions are very similar to their isotropic full-space counterparts in the literature and can be easily incorporated into three-dimensional (3D) dislocation dynamics (DD) simulations for hexagonal crystals with interfaces/surfaces. All possible degenerate cases, e.g. isotropic bimaterials and isotropic half-space, are considered in detail. The singularities intrinsic to the classical continuum theory of dislocations are removed by spreading the Burgers vector anisotropically around every point on the dislocation line according to three particular spreading functions. This non-singular treatment guarantees the equivalence among different versions of the energy formulae and their consistency with the stress formula presented in this paper. Several numerical examples are provided as verification of the derived dislocation solutions, which further show significant influence of material anisotropy and bimaterial interface on the elastic fields and interaction energy of dislocation loops.     

Effect of source and obstacle strengths on yield stress: A discrete dislocation study

The combined effect of dislocation source strength τ_s, dislocation obstacle strength τ_obs, and obstacle spacing L_obs on the yield stress of single crystal metals is investigated analytically and numerically. A continuum theory of dislocation pileups emanating from a finite-strength source and impinging on asymmetric obstacles gives a closed-form expression for the yield stress. A 2d discrete dislocation model for a single-source/obstacle problem agrees well with the analytic model over a wide range of material parameters. Discrete dislocation simulations for a full tensile bar with statistically distributed sources and obstacles show that the distribution of obstacles plays a significant role in controlling the yield stress. Over a wide range of parameters, the simulations agree well with the analytic model using an effective obstacle spacing L_obs^* chosen to capture the strength-controlling statistically weaker pileup configurations. The analytic model can thus be used to guide the choice of source and obstacle parameters to obtain a desired yield stress. The model also shows how different combinations of internal source and obstacle parameters can generate the same macroscopic yield stress, and points to several internal length scales that could relate to size-dependent plasticity phenomena.     

Local stress distribution and yielding of steel sheets due to concentrated transverse loads

In this paper, a theoretical investigation on local stress distribution and yielding of steel sheets subjected to concentrated transverse loads, caused by bolts, is presented. The stress state produced by the above loading leads to the final extraction of the bolt. For both elastic and elastoplastic cases, it is assumed that only a circular area of the metal sheet is affected by the load of the bolt and hence, one can study a representative circular plate of radius a and thickness t, fixed at its ends with a hole of radius b at its center. In addition, it is assumed that the force acting on the metal sheet by the bolt is applied at the edge of the hole at r =?b.     

Study of size effects in thin films by means of a crystal plasticity theory based on DiFT

In a recent publication, we derived the mesoscale continuum theory of plasticity for multiple-slip systems of parallel edge dislocations, motivated by the statistical-based nonlocal continuum crystal plasticity theory for single-glide given by Yefimov et al. [2004b. A comparison of a statistical-mechanics based plasticity model with discrete dislocation plasticity simulations. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 52, 279-300]. In this dislocation field theory (DiFT) the transport equations for both the total dislocation density and geometrically necessary dislocation (GND) density on each slip system were obtained from the Peach-Koehler interactions through both single and pair dislocation correlations. The effect of pair correlation interactions manifested itself in the form of a back stress in addition to the external shear and the self-consistent internal stress. We here present the study of size effects in single crystalline thin films with symmetric double slip using the novel continuum theory. Two boundary value problems are analyzed: (1) stress relaxation in thin films on substrates subject to thermal loading, and (2) simple shear in constrained films. In these problems, earlier discrete dislocation simulations had shown that size effects are born out of layers of dislocations developing near constrained interfaces. These boundary layers depend on slip orientations and applied loading but are insensitive to the film thickness. We investigate the stress response to changes in controlled parameters in both problems. Comparisons with previous discrete dislocation simulations are discussed.     

Screw dislocations and an interfacial blunt crack with viscoelastic interface

This work deals with the influence of Kelvin-type viscoelastic interface on the generation of screw dislocations near the interfacial blunt crack tip in light of a pair of concentrated loads. The stress fields for dislocation and concentrated load have been obtained by using the integral transform and conformal mapping, the stress intensity factor have been studied, the image force acting on dislocation has been analyzed. The region r_b where n screw dislocations are generated by a pair of concentrated loads and dislocation number are obtained by displacement compatibility and stress compatibility conditions of self-consistent and self-equilibrated systems. The results show that: the force acting on dislocation starts with the value that a perfectly bonded interface, then with relaxation of the imperfect interface; the shield effect for dislocation decreases as time goes by; in addition, with time elapsing, the influence of material shear modulus rate on shielding effect becomes weaker and weaker. The scale of multiplier α(r_b/a) increases with relaxation of imperfect interface, the larger ratio of crack geometry c/a and the smaller ratio of shear modulus μ₁/μ₂ will lead the higher scale of multiplier. When μ₁/μ₂ = 1, the screw dislocations number first increases and then decreases with relaxation of imperfect interface, In addition, it possesses the highest value at t₀ ≈ 1 and tends to vanish at t₀ = ∞. When μ₁ < μ₂, the screw dislocations number increases with relaxation of imperfect interface. When μ₁ > μ₂, the screw dislocations number first increases then decreases with relaxation of imperfect interface, and possesses the highest value at t₀ ≈ 1, the negative value are exclude from the discussion.     

A technique for studying interaction between a screw dislocation dipole or a concentrated load and a mode III crack crossing an interface

A method of potentially wide application is developed for deriving analytical expressions of the elastic interaction between a screw dislocation dipole or a concentrated force and a crack cutting perpendicularly across the interface of a bimaterial. The cross line composed of the interface and the crack is mapped into a line, and then the complex potentials are educed. The Muskhelishvili method is extended by creating a Plemelj function that matches the singularity of the real crack tips, and eliminates the pseudo tips’ singularity induced by the conformal mapping. The stress field is obtained after solving the Riemann–Hilbert boundary value problem. Based on the stress field expressions, crack tip stress intensity factors, dislocation dipole image forces and image torque are formulated. Numerical curves show that both the translation and rotation must be considered in the static equilibrium of the dipole system. The crack tip stress intensity factor induced by the dipole may rise or drop and the crack may attract or reject the dipole. These trends depend not only on the crack length, but also on the dipole location, the length and the angle of the dipole span. Generally, the horizontal image force exerted at the center of the dislocation dipole is much smaller than the vertical one. Whether the dipole subjected to clockwise torque or anticlockwise torque is determined by whether the Burgers vector of the crack-nearby dislocation of the dipole is positive or negative. A concentrated load induces no singularity to crack tip stress fields as the load is located at the crack line. However, as the concentrated force is not located on the crack line but approaches the crack tip, the nearby crack tip stress intensity factor K_IIIu increases steeply to infinity.     

On energy changes due to the formation of a circular hole in an elastic plate

The appearance of holes in crystals, developed in stressed biological structures, has motivated us to study the energy release of an initially undisturbed plate subjected to a biaxial stress state which is disturbed by a growing hole. An energy balance allows for a kinetic equation of the hole radius a. The main emphasis is placed on the calculation of the total mechanical energy-release rate by different independent concepts. Specifically, path-independent integrals represent the most convenient approach.     

Defects in gradient micropolar elasticity—I: screw dislocation

A gradient micropolar elasticity is proposed based on first gradients of distortion and bend-twist tensors for an isotropic micropolar medium. This theory is an extension of the theory of micropolar elasticity with couple stresses together with gradient elasticity in a way that in addition to hyper stresses, hyper couple stresses also appear. In particular, the strain energy, besides its dependence upon the distortion and bend-twist terms of a micropolar medium (Cosserat continuum), depends also on distortion and bend-twist gradients. Using a simplified but rigorous version of this gradient theory, we can connect it to Eringen's nonlocal micropolar elasticity. In addition, it is used to study a screw dislocation in gradient micropolar elasticity. One important result is that we obtained nonsingular expressions for the force and couple stresses. The components of the force stress have maximum values near the dislocation line and those of the couple stress have maximum values at the dislocation line.     

Effect of interface stresses on the image force and stability of an edge dislocation inside a nanoscale cylindrical inclusion

Dislocation mobility and stability in inclusions can affect the mechanical behaviors of the composites. In this paper, the problem of an edge dislocation located within a nanoscale cylindrical inclusion incorporating interface stress is first considered. The explicit expression for the image force acting on the edge dislocation is obtained by means of a complex variable method. The influence of the interface effects and the size of the inclusion on the image force is evaluated. The results indicate that the impact of interface stress on the image force and the equilibrium positions of the edge dislocation inside the inclusion becomes remarkable when the radius of the inclusion is reduced to nanometer scale. The force acting on the edge dislocation produced by the interface stress will increase with the decrease of the radius of the inclusion and depends on the inclusion size which differs from the classical solution. The stability of the dislocation inside a nanoscale inclusion is also analyzed. The condition of the dislocation stability and the critical radius of the inclusion are revised for considering interface stresses.     

The effects of couple stresses on dislocation strain energy

The correspondence theorem which relates the solutions of displacement boundary value problems in classical and couple stress elasticity is formulated and applied to derive the solutions for edge and screw dislocations in an infinite medium. The effects of couple stresses on the dislocation strain energy is evaluated for both types of dislocations. It is shown that within a radius of influence of each dislocation in a metallic crystal with dislocation density of 10¹⁰ cm⁻², the strain energy contribution from couple stresses (excluding the core energy) is about 15% in the case of an edge dislocation, and about 11% in the case of a screw dislocation. It is then shown that couple stresses make large effect on the total work of tractions acting on the dislocation core surface.     

Continuum and discrete models of dislocation pile-ups. I. Pile-up at a lock

A mathematical methodology for analysing pile-ups of large numbers of dislocations is described. As an example, the pile-up of n identical screw or edge dislocations in a single slip plane under the action of an external force in the direction of a locked dislocation in that plane is considered. As n→∞ there is a well-known formula for the number density of the dislocations, but this density is singular at the lock and it cannot predict the stress field there or the force on the lock. This poses the interesting analytical and numerical problem of matching a local discrete model near the lock to the continuum model further away.     

A continuum description of partially coherent interfaces

A continuum model of a two-phase crystal-crystal system is constructed in which the structure of the interface between the phases is determined by energy minimization, rather than by being specified a priori. The interfacial structure is parameterized by a variable? corresponding to the jump in the surface deformation gradient (or strain) at the interface, so that coherence is defined locally by the condition? = 0. The energy of the system is taken to be the sum of the bulk and interfacial energies, where the interfacial energy densityf ^xs depends on?. In order to explore how the equilibrium interfacial structure depends on the functionf ^xs (?), a model system consisting of an elastic film on a rigid substrate is studied, and the interfacial energy density is taken to be nonconvex with a sharp minimum associated with coherence. In this case, it can be shown that the energy of the system is driven to its infimum by separating the interface into coherent and incoherent regions, which may be viewed as a continuum analog to a partially coherent interface. Further, this solution only appears above a certain critical thickness of the film, in agreement with misfit dislocation models of partially coherent interfaces.     

The plastic deformation of non-homogeneous polycrystals

To describe the work hardening process of polycrystals processed using various thermomechanical cycles with isochronal annealing from 500 to 900 °C, a dislocation based strain hardening model constructed in the basis of the so-called Kocks–Mecking model is proposed. The time and temperature dependence of flow stress is accounted via grain boundary migration, and the migration is related to annihilation of extrinsic grain boundary dislocations (EGBD’s) by climb via lattice diffusion of vacancies at the triple points. Recovery of yield stress is associated with changes in the total dislocation density term ρ^T. A sequence of deformation and annealing steps generally result in reduction of flow stress via the annihilation of the total dislocation density ρ^T defined as the sum of geometrically necessary dislocations ρ^G and statistically stored dislocations ρ^S. The predicted variation of yield stress with annealing temperature and cold working stages is in agreement with experimental observations. An attempt is made to determine the mathematical expressions which best describe the deformation behaviour of polycrystals in uniaxial deformation.     

Modelling the torsion of thin metal wires by distortion gradient plasticity

Under small strains and rotations, we apply a phenomenological higher-order theory of distortion gradient plasticity to the torsion problem, here assumed as a paradigmatic benchmark of small-scale plasticity. Peculiar of the studied theory, proposed about ten years ago by Morton E. Gurtin, is the constitutive inclusion of the plastic spin, affecting both the free energy and the dissipation. In particular, the part of the free energy, called the defect energy, which accounts for Geometrically Necessary Dislocations, is a function of Nye's dislocation density tensor, dependent on the plastic distortion, including the plastic spin. For the specific torsion problem, we implement this distortion gradient plasticity theory into a Finite Element (FE) code characterised by implicit (Backward Euler) time integration, numerically robust and accurate for both viscoplastic and rate-independent material responses. We show that, contrariwise to other higher-order theories of strain gradient plasticity (neglecting the plastic spin), the distortion gradient plasticity can predict some strengthening even if a quadratic defect energy is chosen. On the basis of the results of many FE analyses, concerned with (i) cyclic loading, (ii) switch in the higher-order boundary conditions during monotonic plastic loading, (iii) the use of non-quadratic defect energies, and (iv) the prediction of experimental data, we mainly show that (a) including the plastic spin contribution in a gradient plasticity theory is highly recommendable to model small-scale plasticity, (b) less-than-quadratic defect energies may help in describing the experimental results, but they may lead to anomalous cyclic behaviour, and (c) dissipative (unrecoverable) higher-order finite stresses are responsible for an unexpected mechanical response under non-proportional loading.     

Continuum framework for dislocation structure,energy and dynamics of dislocation arrays and low angle grain boundaries

We present a continuum framework for dislocation structure, energy and dynamics of dislocation arrays and low angle grain boundaries that are allowed to be nonplanar or nonequilibrium. In our continuum framework, we define a dislocation density potential function on the dislocation array surface or grain boundary to describe the orientation dependent continuous distribution of dislocations in a very simple and accurate way. The continuum formulations incorporate both the long-range dislocation interaction and the local dislocation line energy, and are derived from the discrete dislocation model. The continuum framework recovers the classical Read–Shockley energy formula when the long-range elastic fields of the low angle grain boundaries are canceled out. Applications of our continuum framework in this paper are focused on dislocation structures on static planar and nonplanar low angle grain boundaries and misfitting interfaces. We present two methods under our continuum framework for this purpose, including the method based on the Frank׳s formula and the energy minimization method. We show that for any (planar or nonplanar) low angle grain boundary, the Frank׳s formula holds if and only if the long-range stress field in the continuum model is canceled out, and it does not necessarily hold for a total energy minimum dislocation structure.     

Determination of interaction forces between parallel dislocations by the evaluation of J integrals of plane elasticity

The Peach–Koehler expressions for the glide and climb components of the force exerted on a straight dislocation in an infinite isotropic medium by another straight dislocation are derived by evaluating the plane and antiplane strain versions of J integrals around the center of the dislocation. After expressing the elastic fields as the sums of elastic fields of each dislocation, the energy momentum tensor is decomposed into three parts. It is shown that only one part, involving mixed products from the two dislocation fields, makes a nonvanishing contribution to J integrals and the corresponding dislocation forces. Three examples are considered, with dislocations on parallel or intersecting slip planes. For two edge dislocations on orthogonal slip planes, there are two equilibrium configurations in which the glide and climb components of the dislocation force simultaneously vanish. The interactions between two different types of screw dislocations and a nearby circular void, as well as between parallel line forces in an infinite or semi-infinite medium, are then evaluated.