Crack-stimulated generation of deformation twins in nanocrystalline metals and ceramics

A theoretical model is proposed that describes the generation of deformation twins near brittle cracks of mixed I and II modes in nanocrystalline metals and ceramics. In the framework of the model, a deformation twin nucleates through stress-driven emission of twinning dislocations from a grain boundary distant from the crack tip. The emission is driven by both the external stress concentrated by the pre-existent crack and the stress field of a neighbouring extrinsic grain boundary dislocation. The ranges of the key parameters, the external shear stress, τ, and the crack length, L, are calculated within which the deformation-twin formation near pre-existent cracks is energetically favourable in a typical nanocrystalline metal (Al) and ceramic (3C-SiC). The results of the proposed model account for experimental data on observation of deformation twins in nanocrystalline materials reported in the literature. The deformation-twin formation is treated as a toughening mechanism effectively operating in nanocrystalline metals and ceramics.     

New deformation twinning mechanism generates zero macroscopic strain in nanocrystalline metals

Macroscopic strain was hitherto considered a necessary corollary of deformation twinning in coarse-grained metals. Recently, twinning has been found to be a preeminent deformation mechanism in nanocrystalline face-centered-cubic (fcc) metals with medium-to-high stacking fault energies. Here we report a surprising discovery that the vast majority of deformation twins in nanocrystalline Al, Ni, and Cu, contrary to popular belief, yield zero net macroscopic strain. We propose a new twinning mechanism, random activation of partials, to explain this unusual phenomenon. The random activation of partials mechanism appears to be the most plausible mechanism and may be unique to nanocrystalline fcc metals with implications for their deformation behavior and mechanical properties.     

Modeling the deformation behavior of nanocrystalline alloy with hierarchical microstructures

A mechanism-based plasticity model based on dislocation theory is developed to describe the mechanical behavior of the hierarchical nanocrystalline alloys. The stress–strain relationship is derived by invoking the impeding effect of the intra-granular solute clusters and the inter-granular nanostructures on the dislocation movements along the sliding path. We found that the interaction between dislocations and the hierarchical microstructures contributes to the strain hardening property and greatly influence the ductility of nanocrystalline metals. The analysis indicates that the proposed model can successfully describe the enhanced strength of the nanocrystalline hierarchical alloy. Moreover, the strain hardening rate is sensitive to the volume fraction of the hierarchical microstructures. The present model provides a new perspective to design the microstructures for optimizing the mechanical properties in nanostructural metals.     

Dislocation cross-slip in nanocrystalline fcc metals

Constant strain rate molecular dynamics simulations of nanocrystalline Al demonstrate that a significant amount of dislocations that have nucleated at the grain boundaries, exhibit cross-slip via the Fleischer mechanism as they propagate through the grain. The grain boundary structure is found to strongly influence when and where cross-slip occurs, allowing the dislocation to avoid local stress concentrations that otherwise can act as strong pinning sites for dislocation propagation.     

Low-temperature deformation of nanocrystalline niobium

The strain characteristics of nanocrystalline niobium are measured in the temperature range 4.2–300 K. It is shown that the development of a strong local deformation with clearly delineated macroscopic slip bands occurs at 4.2 K and 10 K. The thermal effects at a stress jump observed upon transition of the sample (or a niobium strip placed close to the sample) from the superconducting state to the normal state are estimated. It is demonstrated that the temperature dependence of the yield point σ_s(T) can be divided into three portions: two portions (T<10 K and T>70 K) with a slight change in σ_s and the third portion with a strong dependence σ_s(T). The strain characteristics of polycrystals with nano-and larger-sized grains are compared with those of single crystals.     

Dislocation emission by pores in nanocrystalline metals

A theoretical model is proposed to describe the emission of lattice and grain-boundary dislocations from pores in nanocrystalline metals during mechanical loading. In this model, dislocation emission occurs via an ideal nanoshear. A dislocation nucleates at a finite distance from a pore, and the modulus of its Burgers vector increases continuously from zero to the modulus of the Burgers vector of a lattice or grain-boundary dislocation. The applied stress and the critical pore-dislocation distance at which dislocation emission via an ideal nanoshear in nanocrystalline Ni, Al, and Cu becomes an energetically favorable and barrier-free process are determined.     

Mechanism of deformation-twin formation in nanocrystalline metals

A theoretical model is proposed to describe the nucleation of deformation twins at grain boundaries in nanocrystalline materials under the action of an applied stress and the stress field of a dipole of junction or grain-boundary wedge disclinations. The model is used to consider pure nanocrystalline aluminum and copper with an average grain size of about 30 nm. The conditions of barrier-free twinning-dislocation nucleation are studied. These conditions are shown to be realistic for the metals under study. As the twin-plate thickness increases, one observes two stages of local hardening and an intermediate stage of local flow of a nanocrystalline metal on the scale of one nanograin. In all stages, the critical stress increases with decreasing disclination-dipole strength. The equilibrium thickness and shape of the twin plate are analyzed and found to agree well with the well-known results of experimental observations.     

Atomistic mechanisms of fatigue in nanocrystalline metals

We investigate the mechanisms of fatigue behavior in nanocrystalline metals at the atomic scale using empirical force laws and molecular level simulations. A combination of molecular statics and molecular dynamics was used to deal with the time scale limitations of molecular dynamics. We show that the main atomistic mechanism of fatigue crack propagation in these materials is the formation of nanovoids ahead of the main crack. The results obtained for crack advance as a function of stress intensity amplitude are consistent with experimental studies and a Paris law exponent of about 2.     

Shear deformation potentials in metals

The differential approach, based on the Green's function method and the muffin-tin approximation for the crystal potential, which was proposed recently as a convenient method of obtaining accurate deformation potentials in metals is discussed briefly here with particular emphasis on the relation of the method to stress-modulation experiments. Specific results are presented for the deformation potentials under tetragonal and trigonal shears of some of the states of Cu, Ag, and Au at symmetry points in the Brillouin zone, and comparison is made with available experimental data.     

Achieving large uniform tensile ductility in nanocrystalline metals

Synchrotron x-ray diffraction and high-resolution electron microscopy revealed the origin of different strain hardening behaviors (and dissimilar tensile ductility) in nanocrystalline Ni and nanocrystalline Co. Planar defect accumulations and texture evolution were observed in Co but not in Ni, suggesting that interfacial defects are an effective passage to promote strain hardening in truly nanograins. Twinning becomes less significant in Co when grain sizes reduce to below ~15 nm. This study offers insights into achieving excellent mechanical properties in nanocrystalline materials.     

Structural mechanisms of plastic deformation in nanocrystalline materials

A model of the initial stage of plastic deformation in nanomaterials is proposed. Within this model, the plastic deformation occurs through grain boundary microsliding (GBM). The accommodation processes accompanying the formation of GBM regions are considered. The relationships describing the regularities in the deformation behavior of nanomaterials and the dependence of the flow stress on the grain size are derived, and the temperature dependence of the GBM resistance stress is calculated. It is demonstrated that the results obtained are in good agreement with the experimental data.     

Nucleation of deformation twins in nanocrystalline fcc alloys

An earlier dislocation model for predicting the grain size effect on deformation twinning in nanocrystalline (nc) face-centred-cubic (fcc) metals has been found valid for pure metals but problematic for alloys. The problem arises from the assumption that the stacking-fault energy (γ_SF) is twice the coherent twin-boundary energy (γ_fcc), which is approximately correct for pure fcc metals, but not for alloys. Here we developed a modified dislocation model to explain the deformation twinning nucleation in fcc alloy systems, where γ_SF ≠ 2γ_twin. This model can explain the differences in the formations of deformation twins in pure metals and alloys, which is significant in low stacking-fault energy alloys. We also describe the procedure to calculate the optimum grain size for twinning in alloy systems and present a method to estimate γ_twin.     

Size effects of nano-spaced basal stacking faults on the strength and deformation mechanisms of nanocrystalline pure hcp metals

The size effects of nano-spaced basal stacking faults (SFs) on the tensile strength and deformation mechanisms of nanocrystalline pure cobalt and magnesium have been investigated by a series of large-scale 2D columnar and 3D molecular dynamics simulations. Unlike the strengthening effect of basal SFs on Mg alloys, the nano-spaced basal SFs are observed to have no strengthening effect on the nanocrystalline pure cobalt and magnesium from MD simulations. These observations could be attributed to the following two reasons: (i) Lots of new basal SFs are formed before (for cobalt) or simultaneously with (for magnesium) the other deformation mechanisms (i.e. the formation of twins and the < c + a > edge dislocations) during the tensile deformation; (ii) In hcp alloys, the segregation of alloy elements and impurities at typical interfaces, such as SFs, can stablilise them for enhancing the interactions with dislocation and thus elevating the strength. Without such segregation in pure hcp metals, the < c + a > edge dislocations can cut through the basal SFs although the interactions between the < c + a > dislocations and the pre-existing SFs/newly formed SFs are observed. The nano-spaced basal SFs are also found to have no restriction effect on the formation of deformation twins.     

High-rate deformation of nanocrystalline iron and copper

Stress–strain curves are recorded during a high-speed impact and slow loading for nanocrystalline and coarse-grained iron and copper. The strain-rate sensitivity is determined as a function of the grain size and the strain. It is shown that the well-known difference between the variations of the strain-rate sensitivity of the yield strength with the grain size in fcc and bcc metals can be extended to other strain dependences: the strain-rate sensitivity of flow stresses in iron decreases with increasing strain, and that in copper increases. This difference also manifests itself in different slopes of the dependence of the strain-rate sensitivity on the grain size when the strain changes.     

Stabilization of high-pressure phases in nanocrystalline metals and alloys

It is shown experimentally that the formation of submicrocrystalline and nanocrystalline states significantly affects the stability of the high pressure hcp phase in iron-based alloys. It is established that the manganese segregation from the bulk of ɛ-phase grain to the grain boundary under high hydrostatic pressure can influence the stability of this phase in nanocrystalline alloys.     

Surface effects in plastic deformation of metals

It is now accepted that the appearance of slip bands on the surface of a plastically deformed metal is evidence that the deformation is not homogeneous but is concentrated on relatively few atomic planes. Recent microscopical experiments have suggested that this conclusion is only valid in the later stages of deformation and that the first fractional per cent of strain is much more nearly homogeneous. Theories to account for both these stages of deformation are examined in the light of microscopical evidence.

The validity of conclusions about internal processes based on experiments on the surface is discussed; it is shown that the surface finish affects not only the appearance of internal processes but also the processes themselves.

In cases where the deformation is not homogeneous the balance of evidence is that it is also not continuous in time: instead, slip on an active slip plane tends to a limit which is reached either gradually or suddenly depending on the nature of the metal and the conditions of stress. The same processes which stop slip on the active planes produce general hardening of the metal. However, slip can restart on or near to former slip planes as a result of mechanisms activated by temperature and stress, and can, in favourable cases, continue until fracture. Therefore slip bands, the sources of hardening, are also places of weakness.