Some basic problems in anisotropic bimaterials with a viscoelastic interface

This research is devoted to the study of anisotropic bimaterials with Kelvin-type viscoelastic interface under antiplane deformations. First we derive the Green’s function for a bimaterial with a Kelvin-type viscoelastic interface subjected to an antiplane force and a screw dislocation by means of the complex variable method. Explicit expressions are derived for the time-dependent stress field induced by the antiplane force and screw dislocation. Also presented is the time-dependent image force acting on the screw dislocation due to its interaction with the Kelvin-type viscoelastic interface. Second we investigate a rectangular inclusion with uniform antiplane eigenstrains embedded in one of the two bonded anisotropic half-planes by virtue of the derived Green’s function for a line force. The explicit expressions for the time-dependent stress field induced by the rectangular inclusion are obtained in terms of the simple logarithmic and exponential integral functions. It is observed that in general the stresses exhibit the logarithmic singularity at the four corners of the rectangular inclusion. Our results also show that when one side of the rectangular inclusion lies on the viscoelastic interface, the interfacial tractions are still regular at the two corners of the inclusion which are located on the interface. Last we address a finite Griffith crack normal to the viscoelastic interface by means of the obtained Green’s function for a screw dislocation. The crack problem is formulated in terms of a resulting singular integral equation which is solved numerically. The time-dependent stress intensity factors at the two crack tips are obtained and some interesting features are discussed.     

Charged dislocations in piezoelectric bimaterials

In some piezoelectric semiconductors and ceramic materials, dislocations can be electrically active and could be even highly charged. However, the impact of dislocation charges on the strain and electric fields in piezoelectric and layered structures has not been presently understood. Thus, in this paper, we develop, for the first time, a charged three-dimensional dislocation loop model in an anisotropic piezoelectric bimaterial space to study the physical and mechanical characteristics which are essential to the design of novel layered structures. We first develop the analytical model based on which a line-integral solution can be derived for the coupled elastic and electric fields induced by an arbitrarily shaped and charged three-dimensional dislocation loop. As numerical examples, we apply our solutions to the typical piezoelectric AlGaN/GaN bimaterial to analyze the fields induced by charged square and elliptic dislocation loops. Our numerical results show that, except for the induced elastic (mechanical) displacement, charges along the dislocation loop could substantially perturb other induced fields. In other words, charges on the dislocation loop could significantly affect the traditional dislocation-induced stress/strain, electric displacement, and polarization fields in piezoelectric bimaterials.     

Elastic fields due to dislocation arrays in anisotropic bimaterials

Based on the single-dislocation Green’s function, analytical solutions of the elastic fields due to dislocation arrays in an anisotropic bimaterial system are derived by virtue of the Cottrell summation formula. The singularity in the Peach–Koehler (P–K) force is removed by both rigorous mathematical approach and physical energy consideration. Numerical results for dislocation arrays in the Cu/Nb bimaterial with Kurdjumov–Sachs (K–S) orientation show that: (1) the traction continuity and periodic condition are both satisfied; (2) the maximum magnitude of the traction at the interface due to a mixed dislocation array is smaller than that due to a single mixed dislocation. In other words, the traction at the interface could be suppressed by the corresponding array with a relatively high density (L < 10 nm); however, the shear stress on the glide plane increases with increasing dislocation density; (3) the Cu/Nb interface attracts the mixed dislocation array in copper and repels the screw one there. This implies that the P–K force depends not only on the material properties, but also on the crystal orientation and the type of Burgers vector, among others.     

Three-dimensional elastic displacements induced by a dislocation of polygonal shape in anisotropic elastic crystals

Dislocations and the elastic fields they induce in anisotropic elastic crystals are basic for understanding and modeling the mechanical properties of crystalline solids. Unlike previous solutions that provide the strain and/or stress fields induced by dislocation loops, in this paper, we develop, for the first time, an approach to solve the more fundamental problem—the anisotropic elastic dislocation displacement field. By applying the point-force Green’s function for a three-dimensional anisotropic elastic material, the elastic displacement induced by a dislocation of polygonal shape is derived in terms of a simple line integral. It is shown that the singularities in the integrand of this integral are all removable. The proposed expression is applied to calculate the elastic displacements of dislocations of two different fundamental shapes, i.e. triangular and hexagonal. The results show that the displacement jump across the dislocation loop surface exactly equals the assigned Burgers vector, demonstrating that the proposed approach is accurate. The dislocation-induced displacement contours are also presented, which could be used as benchmarks for future numerical studies.     

Two-dimensional Green's functions in anisotropic multiferroic bimaterials with a viscous interface

We derive, by virtue of the unified Stroh formalism, the extremely concise and elegant solutions for two-dimensional and (quasi-static) time-dependent Green's functions in anisotropic magnetoelectroelastic multiferroic bimaterials with a viscous interface subjected to an extended line force and an extended line dislocation located in the upper half-plane. It is found for the first time that, in the multiferroic bimaterial Green's functions, there are 25 static image singularities and 50 moving image singularities in the form of the extended line force and extended line dislocation in the upper or lower half-plane. It is further observed that, as time evolves, the moving image singularities, which originate from the locations of the static image singularities, will move further away from the viscous interface with explicit time-dependent locations. Moreover, explicit expression of the time-dependent image force on the extended line dislocation due to its interaction with the viscous interface is derived, which is also valid for mathematically degenerate materials. Several special cases are discussed in detail for the image force expression to illustrate the influence of the viscous interface on the mobility of the extended line dislocation, and various interesting features are observed. These Green's functions can not only be directly applied to the study of dislocation mobility in the novel multiferroic bimaterials, they can also be utilized as kernel functions in a boundary integral formulation to investigate more complicated boundary value problems where multiferroic materials/composites are involved.     

Transient motion of an anisotropic elastic bimaterial due to a line source

The transient motion of an anisotropic elastic bimaterial due to a line force or a line dislocation is studied. The bimaterial is assumed to be at rest and stress-free for t < 0. The line source is applied at t = 0 and maintained for t > 0. A formulation which is an extension to Stroh’s formalism for anisotropic elastostatics is employed. The general solution is expressed in terms of the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of a related eigenvalue problem. The method is used to obtain the analytic solutions without the need of performing integral transforms. Numerical examples of the GaAs bimaterial due to a line force or dislocation are presented for illustration.     

Elastic Green’s Function in Anisotropic Bimaterials Considering Interfacial Elasticity

The two-dimensional elastic Green’s function is calculated for a general anisotropic elastic bimaterial containing a line dislocation and a concentrated force while accounting for the interfacial structure by means of a generalized interfacial elasticity paradigm. The introduction of the interface elasticity model gives rise to boundary conditions that are effectively equivalent to those of a weakly bounded interface. The equations of elastic equilibrium are solved by complex variable techniques and the method of analytical continuation. The solution is decomposed into the sum of the Green’s function corresponding to the perfectly bonded interface and a perturbation term corresponding to the complex coupling nature between the interface structure and a line dislocation/concentrated force. Such construct can be implemented into the boundary integral equations and the boundary element method for analysis of nano-layered structures and epitaxial systems where the interface structure plays an important role.     

Interaction between a screw dislocation and a viscoelastic piezoelectric bimaterial interface

The complex variable method is employed to derive analytical solutions for the interaction between a piezoelectric screw dislocation and a Kelvin-type viscoelastic piezoelectric bimaterial interface. Through analytical continuation, the original boundary value problem can be reduced to an inhomogeneous first-order partial differential equation for a single function of location z = x + iy and time t defined in the lower half-plane, which is free of the screw dislocation. Once the initial, steady-state and far-field conditions are known, the solution to the first order differential equation can be obtained. From the solved function, explicit expressions are then derived for the stresses, strains, electric fields and electric displacements induced by the piezoelectric screw dislocation. Also presented is the image force acting on the screw dislocation due to its interaction with the Kelvin-type viscoelastic interface. The derived solutions are verified by comparing with existing solutions for the simplified cases, and various interesting features are observed, particularly for those associated with the image force.     

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.     

A non-singular continuum theory of dislocations

We develop a non-singular, self-consistent framework for computing the stress field and the total elastic energy of a general dislocation microstructure. The expressions are self-consistent in that the driving force defined as the negative derivative of the total energy with respect to the dislocation position, is equal to the force produced by stress, through the Peach-Koehler formula. The singularity intrinsic to the classical continuum theory is removed here by spreading the Burgers vector isotropically about every point on the dislocation line using a spreading function characterized by a single parameter a, the spreading radius. A particular form of the spreading function chosen here leads to simple analytic formulations for stress produced by straight dislocation segments, segment self and interaction energies, and forces on the segments. For any value a>0, the total energy and the stress remain finite everywhere, including on the dislocation lines themselves. Furthermore, the well-known singular expressions are recovered for a=0. The value of the spreading radius a can be selected for numerical convenience, to reduce the stiffness of the dislocation equations of motion. Alternatively, a can be chosen to match the atomistic and continuum energies of dislocation configurations.     

Image singularities of Green’s functions for isotropic elastic bimaterials subjected to concentrated forces and dislocations

Green’s functions for isotropic materials in the two-dimensional problem for elastic bimaterials with perfectly bonded interface are reexamined in the present study. Although the Green’s function for an isotropic elastic bimaterial subjected to a line force or a line dislocation has been discussed by many authors, the physical meaning and the structure of the solution are not clear. In this investigation, the Green’s function for an elastic bimaterial is shown to consist of eight Green’s functions for a homogeneous infinite plane. One of the novel features is that Green’s functions for bimaterials can be expressed directly by knowing Green’s functions for the infinite plane. If the applied load is located in material 1, the solution for the half-plane of material 1 is constructed with the help of five Green’s functions corresponding to the infinite plane. However, the solution for the half-plane of material 2 only consists of three Green’s functions for the infinite plane. One of the five Green’s functions of material 1 and all the three Green’s functions of material 2 have their singularities located in the half-plane where the load is applied, and the other four image singularities of material 1 are located outside the half-plane at the same distance from the interface as that of the applied load. The nature and magnitude of the image singularities for both materials are presented explicitly from the principle of superposition, and classified according to different loads. It is known that for the problem of anisotropic bimaterials subjected to concentrated forces and dislocations, the image singularities are simply concentrated forces and dislocations with the stress singularity of order O(1/r). However, higher orders (O(1/r²) and O(1/r³)) of stress singularities are found to exist in this study for isotropic bimaterials. The highest order of the stress singularity is O(1/r³) for the image singularities of material 1, and is O(1/r²) for material 2. Using the present solution, Green’s functions associated with the problems of elastic half-plane with free and rigidly fixed boundaries, for homogeneous isotropic elastic solid, are obtained as special cases.     

A piezoelectric screw dislocation interacting with a half-plane trimaterial composite

The electro-elastic stress investigation on the interaction between a screw dislocation and a half-plane trimaterial composite composed of three bonded dissimilar transversely isotropic piezoelectric materials is analyzed in the framework of linear piezoelectricity. Each layer is assumed to have the same material orientation with x ₃ in the poling direction. The dislocations are characterized by a discontinuous displacement and electric potential across the slip plane and are subjected to a line force and a line charge at the core. Based on the complex variable and the method of alternating technique, the solution of electric field and displacement field is expressed in terms of explicit series form. The solutions derived here can be applied to a variety of problems, for example, a half-plane bimaterial, a quarter-plane bimaterial, a quarter-plane material and a rectangular strip etc. Numerical results are provided to show the influences of the material combinations and geometric configurations on the electro-elastic fields and image force calculated through the generalized Peach-Koehler formula. The solutions proposed here can be served as Green??s functions for the analyses corresponding piezoelectric cracking problems.     

Time-dependent Green's functions for an anisotropic bimaterial with viscous interface

By virtue of the Stroh formalism, we derive the exact closed-form solutions for the time-dependent two-dimensional Green's functions due to a line force and line dislocation in an anisotropic bimaterial with a viscous interface. We first reduce the boundary value problem to two coupled homogeneous first-order partial differential equations, which can be solved using a decoupling technique. The full-field expressions of the time-dependent displacements and stresses due to the line force and line dislocation interacting with the viscous interface are obtained.     

Subinterface crack in an anisotropic piezoelectric bimaterial

In this paper, the problem of a subinterface crack in an anisotropic piezoelectric bimaterial is analyzed. A system of singular integral equations is formulated for general anisotropic piezoelectric bimaterial with kernel functions expressed in complex form. For commonly used transversely isotropic piezoelectric materials, the kernel functions are given in real forms. By considering special properties of one of the bimaterial, various real kernel functions for half-plane problems with mechanical traction-free or displacement-fixed boundary conditions combined with different electric boundary conditions are obtained. Investigations of half-plane piezoelectric solids show that, particularly for the mechanical traction-free problem, the evaluations of the mechanical stress intensity factors (electric displacement intensity factor) under mechanical loadings (electric displacement loading) for coupled mechanical and electric problems may be evaluated directly by considering the corresponding decoupled elastic (electric) problem irrespective of what electric boundary condition is applied on the boundary. However, for the piezoelectric bimaterial problem, purely elastic bimaterial analysis or purely electric bimaterial analysis is inadequate for the determination of the generalized stress intensity factors. Instead, both elastic and electric properties of the bimaterial’s constants should be simultaneously taken into account for better accuracy of the generalized stress intensity factors.     

Atomistically determined phase-field modeling of dislocation dissociation,stacking fault formation,dislocation slip,and reactions in fcc systems

The purpose of the current work is the development of a phase field model for dislocation dissociation, slip and stacking fault formation in single crystals amenable to determination via atomistic or ab initio methods in the spirit of computational material design. The current approach is based in particular on periodic microelasticity (Wang and Jin, 2001, Bulatov and Cai, 2006, Wang and Li, 2010) to model the strongly non-local elastic interaction of dislocation lines via their (residual) strain fields. These strain fields depend in turn on phase fields which are used to parameterize the energy stored in dislocation lines and stacking faults. This energy storage is modeled here with the help of the ”interface” energy concept and model of Cahn and Hilliard (1958) (see also Allen and Cahn, 1979, Wang and Li, 2010). In particular, the “homogeneous” part of this energy is related to the “rigid” (i.e., purely translational) part of the displacement of atoms across the slip plane, while the “gradient” part accounts for energy storage in those regions near the slip plane where atomic displacements deviate from being rigid, e.g., in the dislocation core. Via the attendant global energy scaling, the interface energy model facilitates an atomistic determination of the entire phase field energy as an optimal approximation of the (exact) atomistic energy; no adjustable parameters remain. For simplicity, an interatomic potential and molecular statics are employed for this purpose here; alternatively, ab initio (i.e., DFT-based) methods can be used. To illustrate the current approach, it is applied to determine the phase field free energy for fcc aluminum and copper. The identified models are then applied to modeling of dislocation dissociation, stacking fault formation, glide and dislocation reactions in these materials. As well, the tensile loading of a dislocation loop is considered. In the process, the current thermodynamic picture is compared with the classical mechanical one as based on the Peach-Köhler force.     

Image decomposition method for the analysis of a mixed dislocation in a general multilayer

The elastic solutions for a mixed dislocation in a general multilayer with N dissimilar anisotropic layers are obtained via a generalized image decomposition method. The original problem is decomposed into N homogeneous subproblems with strategically placed continuously distributed image (virtual) dislocations which satisfy the consistency conditions for degenerate N − M (M < N) layer problems. The image dislocations are used to satisfy the interface or free surface conditions, and represent the unknowns of the problem. The resulting singular Cauchy integral equations are transformed into non-singular Fredholm integral equations of the second kind using certain H- and I-integral transforms. The Fredholm integral equations are then solved via the classical Nyström method. The general decomposition and the elimination of all singular integrals yield an exact formulation of the problem; the approximation arises only in the Nyström method. The dislocation mixity and the number of layers dissimilar in thickness and elastic anisotropy can be handled without difficulty, constrained only by the number of linear algebraic equations in the Nyström method for large N. For the numerical study, image forces on a dislocation in two- and three-layer systems are calculated. The accuracy of the results is verified by checking the boundary conditions and by comparison with previous results. The dependence of the image force on the dislocation position and mixity, and on the layer thicknesses and elastic anisotropies, is also illustrated via numerical investigations.     

Out-of-plane loading of anisotropic bimaterials and semi-infinite materials

Summary Analytical closed-form solutions are proposed in a rather compact form for the stress and displacement fields induced by out-of-plane loading of a semi-infinite anisotropic material with inclined strata. The solutions are then extended to include the case of a bimaterial with a planar interface. Several boundary conditions are considered for the interface which may be between two anisotropic half-planes with different elastic properties, or two different orientations of the strata in the same material.     

Elastic field due to an edge dislocation in a multilayered composite

A numerical procedure is presented for the analysis of the elastic field due to an edge dislocation in a multilayered composite. The multilayered composite consists of n perfectly bonded layers having different material properties and thickness, and two half-planes adhere to the top and bottom layers. The stiffness matrices for each layer and the half-planes are first derived in the Fourier transform domain, then a set of global stiffness equations is assembled to solve for the transformed components of the elastic field. Since the singular part of the elastic field corresponding to the dislocation in the full-plane has been extracted from the transformed components, regular numerical integration is needed only to evaluate the inverse Fourier transform. Numerical results for the elastic field due to an edge dislocation in a bimaterial medium are shown in fairly good agreement with analytical solutions. The elastic field and the Peach–Kohler image force are also presented for an edge dislocation in a single layered half-plane, a two-layered half-plane and a multilayered composite made of alternating layers of two different materials.