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.     

Face-centred cubic to body-centred cubic phase transformation under [1 0 0] tensile loading

Molecular dynamics simulation was used to verify a speculation of the existence of a certain face-centred cubic (FCC) to body-centred cubic (BCC) phase transformation pathway. Four FCC metals, Ni, Cu, Au and Ag, were stretched along the [1?0?0] direction at various strain rates and temperatures. Under high strain rate and low temperature, and beyond the elastic limit, the bifurcation of the FCC phase occurred with sudden contraction along one lateral direction and expansion along the other lateral direction. When the lattice constant along the expansion direction converged with that of the stretched direction, the FCC phase transformed into an unstressed BCC phase. By reducing the strain rate or increasing the temperature, dislocation or ‘momentum-induced melting’ mechanisms began to control the plastic deformation of the FCC metals, respectively.     

Dynamic interaction of edge dislocations with point defects and prismatic dislocation loops at high-strain-rate deformation of crystals

The motion of an ensemble of edge dislocations at high-strain-rate deformation of a crystal with a high concentration of prismatic dislocation loops and point defects has been analyzed. It has been shown that, under certain conditions, the drag of an edge dislocation by prismatic dislocation loops has the character of dry friction, and the magnitude of the drag force of the dislocation is determined by the relationship between the concentration of prismatic dislocation loops and the density of mobile dislocations. An increase in the density of mobile dislocations leads to an enhancement of their collective interaction, thus facilitating the overcoming of prismatic dislocation loops by edge dislocations. The total drag force of an edge dislocation is a nonmonotonic function of the concentration of point defects, which, under certain conditions, has a minimum.     

Investigation of the activation-parameters of low-temperature slip in cubic metals

The macroscopic critical resolved shear stress (CRSS)τ of 9 body-centred cubic (BCC) and 5 face-centred cubic (FCC) metals has been found to vary with temperatureT in the range 0 to 300 K as given by: lnτ=A − BT, whereA andB are positive constants. Theτ−T data have been analysed within the framework of a kink-pair nucleation (KPN) model of plastic flow in crystals. The microscopic parameters of the unit activation process of yielding, e.g. the initial length of the glide dislocation segment, the critical height of the kink-pair nucleated in it, the activation volume associated with the CRSS, and the binding energy per interatomic spacing along the glide dislocation in the slip plane etc., have been evaluated. A consistent picture of the dislocation kinetics involved in the yielding of BCC and FCC metals emerges, which is adequately described by the KNP model of plastic flow in crystals.     

Dislocation configurations around a nanoindentation in the surface of a fcc metal

We report a scanning tunnelling microscopy investigation of the emission of dislocations around nanoindentations in the form of dislocation arrangements previously called hillocks , consisting of two pairs of Shockley partial dislocations, each encompassing a stacking fault. The spatial arrangement and size distribution of hillocks around the nanoindentation traces are studied. We show that standard dislocation theory for an isotropic continuum can be used to describe the stability of the hillocks, their size and spatial distribution and the broadening of the corresponding extended dislocations near the surface. A model is proposed in which hillocks originate from the split into dislocations partials of primary perfect dislocation loops punched into the crystal by the scanning tunnelling microscope tip. This model implies the operation of a novel dislocation mechanism involving long-range transport of matter across the surface.     

Discrete dislocation dynamics: an important recent break-through in the modelling of dislocation collective behaviour

Recent results obtained by 3D discrete Dislocation Dynamics (DD) simulations are reviewed. Firstly, in the case of fatigued AISI 316L stainless steel, it is shown how DD simulations can both explain the formation of persistent slip bands and give a criterion for crack initiation. The same study is performed in the case of precipitate hardened metals where the precipitate size plays a crucial role. Secondly, we show how molecular dynamics (MD) simulations can feed the DD simulations for two applications. The first concerns the modelling of BCC Fe for which the dislocation mobility is derived from MD simulations. The second considers the modelling of irradiated stainless steels (FCC), where MD is used to define the local rules of interactions between dislocations and Frank loops. To cite this article: M.C. Fivel, C. R. Physique 9 (2008).     

A New View of Incipient Plastic Instability during Nanoindentation

Whether the dislocation nucleation or the sudden dislocation multiplication dominates the incipient plastic instability during the nanoindentation of initial defect-free single crystal still remains unclear. In this work, the dislocation mechanism corresponding to the incipient plastic instability is numerically investigated by coupling discrete dislocation dynamics with the finite element method. The coupling model naturally introduces the dislocation nucleation and accurately captures the heterogeneous stress field during nanoindentation. The simulation results show that the first dislocation nucleation induces the initial pop-in event when the indenter is small, while for larger indenters, the incipient plastic instability is ascribed to the cooperation between dislocation nucleation and multiplication. Interestingly, the local dislocation densities for both cases are almost the same when the sudden load drop occurs. Thus it is inferred that the adequate dislocations generated by either nucleation or multiplication, or both, are the requirement for the trigger of incipient plastic instability. A unified dislocation-based mechanism is proposed to interpret the precipitate incipient plastic instability.     

Initial dislocation density effect on strain hardening in FCC aluminium alloy under laser shock peening

Abstract

The effect of initial dislocation density on subsequent dislocation evolution and strain hardening in FCC aluminium alloy under laser shock peening (LSP) was investigated by using three-dimension discrete dislocation dynamics (DD) simulation. Initial dislocations were randomly generated and distributed on slip planes for three different dislocation densities of 4.21 × 10¹², 8.12 × 10¹² and 1.26 × 10¹³ m^?2. Besides, variable densities of prismatic loops were introduced into the DD cells as nanoprecipitates to study the dislocation pinning effect. The flow stresses as a function of strain rate obtained by DD simulation are compared with relevant experimental data. The results show a significant dislocation density accumulation in the form of dislocation band-like structures under LSP. The overall yield strength in FCC aluminium alloy decreases with increasing initial dislocation density and forest dislocation strengthening becomes negligible under laser induced ultra-high strain rate deformation. In addition, yield strength is enhanced by increasing the nanoprecipitate density due to dislocation pinning effect.     

Atomic modeling of irradiation-induced hardening

We review recent results obtained by Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations on the elementary interaction mechanisms between dislocations and irradiation defects, with the aim to obtain a fundamental understanding of plasticity in irradiated metals. The reactions obtained included defect shear, drag and absorption in edge and screw dislocations. We present the state of the art in both FCC and BCC metals and discuss the challenges faced by MD simulations, in particular in BCC metals in order to realistically simulate the thermally-activated glide of screw dislocations in the presence of obstacles. To cite this article: D. Rodney, C. R. Physique 9 (2008).     

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).     

The origin of a drag force of the dry friction type during dynamic glide of edge dislocations in a crystal containing prismatic dislocation loops

Dynamic drag of edge dislocations by prismatic dislocation loops has been studied. It has been shown that the appearance of activation in the vibration spectrum of moving edge dislocations leads to the dry friction effect. Numerical evaluations have shown that this effect on dislocation dynamics can be rather significant at high loop concentrations.     

Structural transition of sheared-liquid metal in quenching state

In this Letter, the effects of shear rate on structural properties of liquid Al in quenching process were investigated via molecular dynamics (MD) simulations based on the EAM potential. Analyses in internal energy and pair correlation functions (PCF) reveal an increasing structural transition temperature as the shear rate is enhanced in the liquid. Results of pair analysis indicate that for liquid Al under normal condition, face center cubic (FCC) structure is clearly detected upon cooling; while in sheared liquid, structural transition from FCC to body center cubic (BCC) at temperature of 800 K is manifested, leading to the dominance of BCC structural order at low temperatures.     

Properties of Moving Discrete Breathers in Beryllium

Physics of the Solid State - Discrete breathers (DBs) have been described among pure metals with face-centered cubic (FCC) and body-centered cubic (BCC) lattice, but for hexagonal close-packed...     

Characterization of dislocation interactions in olivine using electron tomography

We have investigated by electron tomography, in a transmission electronic microscope, the interactions between dislocations in olivine single crystals and polycrystals deformed in axial compression at T < 1000 °C (T < 0.5T_m). Dislocations are mostly of the [0?0?1] type, except in the polycrystal where [1?0?0] and [0?0?1] dislocations have been activated. A few 〈1?0?1〉 junctions have been found and characterized. Many collinear interactions have been identified either involving direct interactions between crossing dislocations of opposite Burgers vectors or indirect interactions between dislocations gliding in parallel planes and sessile dislocation loops. We suggest that collinear interaction, already identified as the primary source of strain hardening in FCC metals, is the main dislocation interaction mechanism in olivine deformed at temperatures below 1000 °C.     

Vibrational properties of straight dislocations in bcc and fcc metals within the harmonic approximation

We calculate the vibrational spectra of straight screw and edge dislocations in several body-centered cubic (bcc) (Mo and Fe) and face-centered cubic (fcc) (Cu and Al) metals within the harmonic approximation. We take advantage of the translational symmetry of straight dislocations to efficiently calculate their phonon eigenstates in the harmonic limit. This allows us to calculate the low-temperature contribution of straight screw and edge dislocations to the heat capacity of each respective metal, and show that the dominant temperature dependence below 5 K is linear. Comparison with heat capacity measurements of heavily cold-worked Cu reveals very good agreement with our calculations. At higher temperatures, the contribution from the non-linear terms becomes significant. As a result, maxima in the straight dislocation heat capacities are observed in the temperature range from 9% to 16% of the Debye temperature. We investigate the appearance of localized and resonance peaks in the vibrational spectra induced by dislocations, and study in detail their spatial spread around the dislocation cores by projecting vibrational eigenstates onto individual atoms. We study the deviation of these atomic-level vibrational free energies from that of the perfect crystal as a function of distance to the dislocation cores, and establish that, similar to the dislocation energy, the vibrational free energy of an isolated dislocation behaves logarithmically in the long-range limit. Finally, we obtain vibrational spectra for propagating waves along the dislocation line and find that the dispersion for these waves is consistent with the notion of kink formation and motion for screw dislocations.     

冲击加载下铝中氦泡和孔洞的塑性变形特征研究

通过分子动力学模拟研究了在相同冲击加载强度下单晶铝中氦泡和孔洞的塑性变形特征,结果发现氦泡和孔洞的塌缩是由发射剪切型位错环引起的,而没有观测到棱锥型位错环发射. 氦泡和孔洞周围的位错优先成核位置基本一致,但是氦泡周围发射的位错环数目比孔洞多,位错环发射速度明显比孔洞快. 且氦泡和孔洞被冲击波先扫过部分比后扫过部分发射位错困难. 通过滑移面上的分解应力分析发现,氦泡和孔洞周围塑性特征的差别是由于氦泡内压引起最大分解应力分布改变造成的. 氦泡和孔洞被冲击波先后扫过部分塑性不对称是因为冲击波扫过时引起形状变化, 关键词： 分子动力学 冲击波 氦泡 孔洞     

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.     

Effect of alloying element on dislocation cross-slip in γ′-Ni3Al: a first-principles study

The effects of alloying elements Re, Ru, Ta, Ti, and W on the activation enthalpy of dislocation cross-slip in γ′-Ni₃Al are studied combining density functional theory calculations with the classical theory of dislocations. The elements Re and W are found to effectively increase planar fault energies on the (111) plane and decrease the cross-slip activation enthalpy in Ni₃Al. The reduction of activation enthalpy will increase the probabilities of cross-slipping and forming sessile dislocation locks. Therefore, Re and W can inhibit the further motion of dislocations and raise the flow stress of Ni₃Al in the anomalous temperature regime. The underlying electronic mechanism is the strong bonding of Re–Ni and W–Ni and the weak bonding of Re–Al and W–Al in fault areas.     

Atomistic simulation of the stacking fault energy and grain shape on strain hardening behaviours of FCC nanocrystalline metals

ABSTRACT

Ultra-fine grained copper with nanotwins is found to be both strong and ductile. It is expected that nanocrystalline metals with lamella grains will have strain hardening behaviour. The main unsolved issues on strain hardening behaviour of nanocrystalline metals include the effect of stacking fault energy, grain shape, temperature, strain rate, second phase particles, alloy elements, etc. Strain hardening makes strong nanocrystalline metals ductile. The stacking fault energy effects on the strain hardening behaviour are studied by molecular dynamics simulation to investigate the uniaxial tensile deformation of the layer-grained and equiaxed models for metallic materials at 300?K. The results show that the strain hardening is observed during the plastic deformation of the layer-grained models, while strain softening is found in the equiaxed models. The strain hardening index values of the layer-grained models decrease with the decrease of stacking fault energy, which is attributed to the distinct stacking fault width and dislocation density. Forest dislocations are observed in the layer-grained models due to the high dislocation density. The formation of sessile dislocations, such as Lomer–Cottrell dislocation locks and stair-rod dislocations, causes the strain hardening behaviour. The dislocation density in layer-grained models is higher than that in the equiaxed models. Grain morphology affects dislocation density by influencing the dislocation motion distance in grain interior.     

空位位错环的形成

本文研究了淬火面心立方金属内位错环和空洞的形核和长大问题。两种核都能形成,但是位错环的长大速度比空洞的长大速度大很多倍,故电子显微镜能看清的大缺陷都是位错环,而不是空洞。