Accurate determination of extra-column band broadening using peak summation

The present contribution addresses the problem of the accurate determination of the extra-column band-broadening dispersion by applying the method of moments (MOM) on pulse response experiments. The MOM provides the only mathematically rigorous way to determine the variance of a pulse response, but suffers from the fact that the obtained variance values usually depend very strongly and unpredictably on the selected integration boundaries. In the present study, it is investigated whether the MOM cannot be made more accurate by repeating the pulse response experiment a number of times, then add all measured peaks (after retention time alignment) and subsequently perform the integration on this summed peak. Testing this approach for a number of different integration boundary detection methods consistently more accurate results are obtained than when the different repeat response pulses are integrated individually and the variances are averaged afterwards. It was also found that adding five repeats already leads to a significant improvement of the variance estimate, whereas the addition of 10-20 repeats is needed before the variance estimate converges to a steady value.     

Thermal stability of grain boundaries in nanocrystalline Zn studied by positron lifetime spectroscopy

Nanocrystalline Zn prepared by compacting nanoparticles with mean grain size about 55 nm at 15 MPa has been studied by positron lifetime spectroscopy. For the bulk Zn sample, the vacancy defect is annealed out at about 350 °C, but for the nanocrystalline Zn sample, the vacancy cluster in grain boundaries is quite difficult to be annealed out even at very high temperature (410 °C). In the grain boundaries of nanocrystalline Zn, the small free volume defect (not larger than divacancy) is dominant according to the high relative intensity for the short positron lifetime (τ₁). The oxide (ZnO) inside the grain boundaries has been found having an effect to hinder the decrease of average positron lifetime (τ_av), which probably indicates that the oxide stabilizes the microstructure of the grain boundaries. This stabilization is very important for the nanocrystalline materials using as radiation resistant materials.     

The stress birefringence images of low angle grain boundaries in 6H‐SiC single crystals

Low angle grain boundaries, also referred to as domain walls, is one of the major structural defects in c‐axis physical vapor transport (PVT) grown hexagonal Silicon Carbide. To investigate the nature of the low angle boundaries, polarized optical microscope was used. The low angle boundary gives bright stress birefringence images under polarizing optical microscope. Periodic extinction of the stress birefringence images occurs when the (0001)‐face SiC is rotated under polarizing optical microscope. The micro‐structure of the low angle boundary is proposed. Using dislocation elastic theory, it is theoretically confirmed that the domains consist of uniform pure edge dislocations with Burgers vectors perpendicular to the dislocation arrays. The simulation results coincide with the experimental observations.     

The reduction of rotational ambiguity in soft-modeling by introducing hard models

Rotational ambiguity is a major problem in the application of soft-modeling analysis to a variety of multivariate mixture resolution problems and particularly important in the analysis of kinetic data. Soft-modeling analyses rely on constraints that restrict the concentration profiles and/or the spectral responses of all components. The main goal of this work is to demonstrate how a hard-modeling constraint on concentration profiles drastically decreases the extent of the rotational ambiguity. Therefore, in the present paper the discussion is focused on systems in which hard-modeling information is available. The results of simulated examples reveal that the utilized hard constraint decreases the rotational ambiguity in estimated concentration profile even components that do not take part in the explicit model. In addition, the rate constant of known reaction is determined in this method.     

Analysis of shock wave reflection from fixed and moving boundaries using a stabilized particle method

In the present paper, the efficiency of an enhanced formulation of the stabilized corrective smoothed particle method （CSPM） for simulation of shock wave propagation and reflection from fixed and moving solid boundaries in compressible fluids is investigated. The Lagrangian nature and its accuracy for imposing the boundary conditions are the two main reasons for adoption of CSPM. The governing equations are further modified for imposition of moving solid boundary conditions. In addition to the traditional artificial viscosity, which can remove numerically induced abnormal jumps in the field values, a velocity field smoothing technique is introduced as an efficient method for stabilizing the solution. The method has been implemented for one- and two-dimensional shock wave propagation and reflection from fixed and moving boundaries and the results have been compared with other available solutions. The method has also been adopted for simulation of shock wave propagation and reflection from infinite and finite solid boundaries.     

Interfacial excess energy, excess stress and excess strain in elastic solids: Planar interfaces

In this paper, interfacial excess energy and interfacial excess stress for coherent interfaces in an elastic solid are reformulated within the framework of continuum mechanics. It is shown that the well-known Shuttleworth relationship between the interfacial excess energy and interfacial excess stress is valid only when the interface is free of transverse stresses. To account for the transverse stress, a new relationship is derived between the interfacial excess energy and interfacial excess stress. Dually, the concept of transverse interfacial excess strain is also introduced, and the complementary Shuttleworth equation is derived that relates the interfacial excess energy to the newly introduced transverse interfacial excess strain. This new formulation of interfacial excess stress and excess strain naturally leads to the definition of an in-plane interfacial stiffness tensor, a transverse interfacial compliance tensor and a coupling tensor that accounts for the Poisson's effect of the interface. These tensors fully describe the elastic behavior of a coherent interface upon deformation.     

Direct calculations of material parameters for gradient plasticity

Length scale parameters introduced in gradient theories of plasticity are calculated in closed form with a continuum dislocation based theory. The similarity of the governing equations in both models for the evolution of plastic deformation of a constrained thin film makes it possible to identify parameters of the gradient plasticity theory with the dislocation based model. A one-to-one identification is not possible given that gradient plasticity does not account for individual dislocations. However, by comparing the mean plastic deformation across the film thickness we find that the length scale parameter, l, introduced in the gradient plasticity theory depends on the geometry as well as material constants.     

Geometrically necessary dislocation structure organization in FCC bicrystal subjected to cyclic plasticity

Crystal plasticity finite element analysis of cyclic deformation of compatible type FCC bicrystals are performed. The model specimen used in the analysis is a virtual FCC bicrystal with an isotropic elastic property; therefore, the effect of constraint due to elastic incompatibility does not appear. The results of the analysis show the strain-amplitude-dependence of both the organization of the GND structure and the stress–strain behavior. The calculated stress–strain curve with the largest strain amplitude shows additional cyclic hardening. The microscopic mechanisms of the strain-amplitude-dependent organization of the GND structure and additional cyclic hardening behavior are discussed in terms of the activation of secondary slip system(s). Finally, the effects of the elastic anisotropy, the lattice friction stress and the interaction between dislocations are also argued.     

A perspective on trends in multiscale plasticity

Research trends in metal plasticity over the past 25 years are briefly reviewed. The myriad of length scales at which phenomena involving microstructure rearrangement during plastic flow is discussed, along with key challenges. Contributions of the author’s group over the past 30 years are summarized in this context, focusing on the statistical nature of microstructure evolution and emergent multiscale behavior associated with metal plasticity, current trends and models for length scale effects, multiscale kinematics, the role of grain boundaries, and the distinction of the roles of concurrent and hierarchical multiscale modeling in the context of materials design.     

EBSD-based continuum dislocation microscopy

Recent advances in high-resolution electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD)-based microscopy are applied to the characterization of elastic fields and incompatibility structures near the grain boundaries (GBs) in polycrystals. Two main recoveries are reported here: surface geometrically necessary dislocation (density) tensors, as described by Kröner, and the elastic fields near cracks (unconsolidated portions of interface) in loaded samples. Context for the application of these recoveries is described, using Green’s function solutions for combined heterogeneity and dislocation. Featured recoveries required the cross-correlation based determination of the elastic distortion tensor, aided by application of the simulated pattern method, and determination of the absolute pattern center utilizing the expected pattern properties in a spherical Kikuchi reference frame. High-resolution data obtained along an ultrasonically consolidated nickel boundary of varying amalgamation indicates that the imposed traction free boundary condition at free surfaces is well observed in the data structure. Further, high-resolution data acquired near a single grain boundary in well-annealed, low content steel suggests that it may be possible to measure the intrinsic elastic properties of GBs.