Effects of stacking fault energy on defect formation process in face-centered cubic metals

To elucidate the effect of stacking fault energies (SFEs) on defect formation by the collision cascade process for face-centred cubic metals, we used six sets of interatomic potentials with different SFEs while keeping the other properties almost identical. Molecular dynamic simulations of the collision cascade were carried out using these potentials with primary knock-on atom energies (E_PKA) of 10 and 20 keV at 100 K. Neither the number of residual defects nor the size distributions for both self-interstitial atom (SIA) type and vacancy type clusters were affected by the difference in the SFE. In the case of E_PKA = 20 keV, the ratio of glissile SIA clusters increased as the SFE decreased, which was not expected by a prediction based on the classical dislocation theory. The trend did not change after annealing at 1100 K for 100 ps. For vacancy clusters, few stacking fault tetrahedrons (SFTs) formed before the annealing. However, lower SFEs tended to increase the SFT fraction after the annealing, where large vacancy clusters formed at considerable densities. The findings of this study can be used to characterise the defect formation process in low SFE metals such as austenitic stainless steels.     

Relative grain boundary free energy and surface free energy of some metals and alloys

By the method of thermal etching measurements were carried out of the ratio of grain boundary free energy _GB to the surface free energy _s in silver, copper, nickel, gamma-iron and cobalt of 99·999 pct. purity each, three copper-aluminium alloys and eight nickel-cobalt alloys, the total concentration of impurities in each alloy not exceeding 0·01 pct, as a function of the temperature and sometimes of the annealing medium.     

Acoustic phonon damping in cubic metals

Electron-phonon-induced linewidths of phonons are discussed in terms of near neighbor tight-binding parameters. Predictions are made of the anisotropy of the linewidth, and some selection rules are given for long-wavelength acoustic phonons.     

Zero-point energy of N perfectly conducting concentric cylindrical shells

The zero-point (Casimir) energy of N perfectly conducting, infinitely long, concentric cylindrical shells is calculated utilizing the mode summation technique. The obtained convergent expression is studied as a function of size, curvature and number of shells. Limiting cases, such as infinitely close shells or infinite radius shells are also investigated.     

Cross-slip in face-centered cubic metals: a general Escaig stress-dependent activation energy line tension model

Cross-slip is a dislocation mechanism by which screw dislocations can change their glide plane. This thermally activated mechanism is an important mechanism in plasticity and understanding the energy barrier for cross-slip is essential to construct reliable cross-slip rules in dislocation models. In this work, we employ a line tension model for cross-slip of screw dislocations in face-centred cubic (FCC) metals in order to calculate the energy barrier under Escaig stresses. The analysis shows that the activation energy is proportional to the stacking fault energy, the unstressed dissociation width and a typical length for cross-slip along the dislocation line. Linearisation of the interaction forces between the partial dislocations yields that this typical length is related to the dislocation length that bows towards constriction during cross-slip. We show that the application of Escaig stresses on both the primary and the cross-slip planes varies the typical length for cross-slip and we propose a stress-dependent closed form expression for the activation energy for cross-slip in a large range of stresses. This analysis results in a stress-dependent activation volume, corresponding to the typical volume surrounding the stressed dislocation at constriction. The expression proposed here is shown to be in agreement with previous models, and to capture qualitatively the essentials found in atomistic simulations. The activation energy function can be easily implemented in dislocation dynamics simulations, owing to its simplicity and universality.     

Coulomb energy of cubic lattices

The Coulomb energies of simple cubic, face-centered cubic and body-centered cubic point lattices with uniform neutralizing background are given for crystals with up to 16 atoms per unit cell.     

Cross-slip in face centred cubic metals: a general full stress-field dependent activation energy line-tension model

Cross-slip is a thermally activated process by which a screw dislocation changes its slip plane. Understanding and modelling the activation barrier of the cross-slip process as a free-energy barrier that depends on the stress conditions at the vicinity of the dislocation is crucial. In this work, we employ the line-tension model for the cross-slip of screw dislocations in face-centred cubic (FCC) metals in order to calculate the energy barrier when both Escaig stresses are applied on the primary and cross-slip planes and Schmid stress is applied on the cross-slip plane. We propose a closed-form expression for the activation energy for cross-slip in a large range of stresses, without any fitting parameters. The results of the proposed model are in good agreement with previous numerical results and atomistic simulations. We also show that, when Schmid stress is applied on the cross-slip plane, the energy barrier is decreased, and in particular, cross-slip can occur even when the Escaig stress in the primary plane is smaller than that on the cross-slip plane. The proposed closed-form expression for the activation energy can be easily implemented in dislocation dynamics simulations, owing to its simplicity and universality. This will allow cross-slip to be more accurately related to macroscopic plasticity.     

The low field Hallcoefficient in cubic metals

In the anisotropic relaxation time model the trajectory method is used to derive some useful formulae for the low field Hallcoefficient in cubic metals. The results are already known from the literature, but for one part of them a derivation has not been published (Rasmussenet al.) and the other part was derived with different methods (Tsuji) and under simplifying assumptions (Tsuji, Ziman). So the results prove the consistency of the various formulae and their uniform derivation illustrates the underlying physical processes. The results are discussed and connected with the Kohler rule.     

Thermal properties of cubic metals in anharmonic approximation

Expressions for thermal properties such as thermal expansion, specific heat and melting point are obtained by employing the usual quadratic-quartic form of the potential energy. Computed results for nineteen cubic metals are presented and compared with the experimental values. The model describes the broad features observed in the thermal properties and an estimate of the anharmonicity in cubic metals.     

Zero-point spin deviation of antiferrimagnet

The zero-point spin deviation of antiferrimagnet is calculated by the Green function method with the decoupling scheme by Tyablikov theory.     

Twinning propensity in nanocrystalline face-centered cubic,body-centered cubic,and hexagonal close-packed metals

The nanotwinned structures in metals exhibit the unique combination of physical properties. The unifying approach is developed that can be applied to nanocrystalline (nc) materials with different crystal structures. It is used to make a bridge between microscopical mechanisms of twin nucleation and macroscopic characteristics of the twinning and calculate them. The grain size range of the nanotwinning propensity, the grain size of its peak, and the requisite external twinning stress are calculated for the nc face-centered cubic metals Al, Cu, Ni, Pd, Au, Ag, for nc body-centered cubic metals Ta, Fe, Nb, Mo, and for hexagonal close-packed nc metals Co, Zr, Mg, Ti.     

Statistical theory of slip channels in body-centered cubic metals

Received: 26 July 1996/Accepted: 7 October 1996     

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.     

Deformation banding under arbitrary monotonic loading in cubic metals

We present a Taylor-based theory of deformation of an aggregate of rigid-plastic crystals that allows for heterogeneity of grain deformation, and use it to model macroscopic subdivision of grains into mutually misoriented volumes, a process termed deformation banding. Each grain is assumed to accommodate the macroscopically imposed deformation such that the power of its plastic deformation is minimized. This minimization may involve the formation of deformation bands. The theory is applied to tension, compression and rolling of fcc aluminium and bcc α-iron polycrystals, and used to predict the macroscopic mechanical response, the polycrystal texture, the orientation of deformation bands, and the misorientations across them. These predictions are compared with experimental observations available in the literature, and good qualitative agreement is found.