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Title: Effects of solutes on dislocation nucleation from grain boundaries

Journal Article · · International Journal of Plasticity
 [1];  [1];  [2]
  1. Ames Lab., Ames, IA (United States). Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering
  2. Ames Lab., Ames, IA (United States). Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering; Iowa State Univ., Ames, IA (United States). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering

When grain sizes are reduced to the nanoscale, grain boundaries (GB) become the dominant sources of the dislocations that enable plastic deformation. Here, we present the first molecular dynamics (MD) study of the effect of substitutional solutes on the dislocation nucleation process from GBs during uniaxial tensile deformation. A simple bi-crystal geometry is utilized in which the nucleation and propagation of dislocations away from a GB is the only active mechanism of plastic deformation. Solutes with atomic radii both larger and smaller than the solvent atomic radius were considered. Although the segregation sites are different for the two cases, both produce increases in the stress required to nucleate a dislocation. MD simulations at room temperature revealed that this increase in the nucleation stress is associated with changes of the GB structure at the emission site caused by dislocation emission, leading to increases in the heats of segregation of the solute atoms, which cannot diffuse to lower-energy sites on the timescale of the nucleation event. These results contribute directly to understanding the strength of nanocrystalline materials, and suggest suitable directions for nanocrystalline alloy design leading toward structural applications.

Research Organization:
Ames Lab., Ames, IA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-07CH11358
OSTI ID:
1355410
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1396622
Report Number(s):
IS-J-9265; PII: S0749641916303539
Journal Information:
International Journal of Plasticity, Vol. 90, Issue C; ISSN 0749-6419
Publisher:
ElsevierCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 39 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (3)

The W alloying effect on thermal stability and hardening of nanostructured Cu–W alloyed thin films journal March 2018
Dislocation content in random high angle grain boundaries journal April 2019
Zr segregation in Ni–Zr alloy: implication on deformation mechanism during shear loading and bending creep journal February 2020