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At least 379 records · Page 21
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2018

An atomistic investigation of the interaction of dislocations with Guinier-Preston zones in Al-Cu alloys

The interaction between edge dislocations and Guinier-Preston zones in an Al-Cu alloy was analyzed by means of atomistic simulations. The different thermodynamic functions that determine the features of these obstacles for the dislocation glide were computed using molecular statics, molecular dynamics and the nudged elastic band method. It was found that Guinier-Preston zones are sheared by dislocations and the rate at which dislocations overcome the precipitate is controlled by the activation energy, Δ U , in agreement with the postulates of the harmonic transition state theory. Moreover, the entropic contribution to the Helmholtz activation free energy was in the range 1.3–1.8 k b , which can be associated with the typical vibrational entropy of solids. Finally, an estimation of the initial shear flow stress as a function of temperature was carried out from the thermodynamic data provided by the atomistic simulations. Furthermore, comparison with experimental results showed that the effect of the random precipitate distribution and of the dislocation character and dislocation/precipitation orientation has to be taken into account in the simulations to better reproduce experiments.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Atomistic modeling of surface and grain boundary dislocation nucleation in FCC metals

Dislocation nucleation plays a critical role in the plastic deformation of crystalline materials. However, it is challenging to predict the active mode and associated rate of dislocation nucleation under typical experimental loading conditions through molecular dynamics simulation due to timescale limitations. In this report we use the free-end nudged elastic band method to determine the activation energies and activation volumes of dislocation nucleation in four typical face-centered cubic metals of Au, Al, Cu and Ni. We focus on the representative processes of surface and grain boundary dislocation nucleation. The atomistically determined activation volumes of these dislocation nucleation processes are larger than 10b3 (with b being the Burgers vector length) under typical experimental loading conditions. These results are compared with experimentally measured activation volumes in ultrafine-grained and nanocrystalline metals, thereby providing mechanistic insight into their rate-controlling deformation mechanisms.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Direct comparison between experiments and dislocation dynamics simulations of high rate deformation of single crystal copper

A long standing challenge in computational materials science is to establish a quantitative connection between the macroscopic properties of plastic deformation with the microscopic mechanisms of dislocations in crystalline materials. Although the discrete dislocation dynamics (DDD) simulation method has been developed for several decades with the goal of addressing this challenge, a one-to-one comparison between the DDD predictions on single crystal stress–strain curves and experimental measurements under identical conditions has not been possible to date. Such a comparison is an essential step towards establishing a dislocation-physics based theory of plasticity and a multiscale framework of the plastic behaviors of crystalline materials. Here we provide direct comparisons between the stress–strain curves of Cu single crystals under high strain rate loading in the [0 0 1] and [0 1 1] directions obtained from miniaturized desktop Kolsky bar experiments and those from DDD simulations under identical loading conditions. With an appropriate set of parameters, DDD simulations can produce stress–strain curves that are in reasonable agreement with the experimental results. However, the dislocation mobility values needed to achieve this agreement are an order of magnitude lower than expected based on previous measurements and atomistic simulations. We hypothesize that this discrepancy could be caused by drag forces from jogs and point defects produced during the plastic deformation. Cross-slip of screw dislocations is also found to be necessary to capture the experimental stress–strain behavior, especially for the [0 1 1] loading direction. Finally, this work provides an example of how direct comparisons between DDD simulations and experimental measurements can provide new insight into the fundamental mechanisms of plastic deformation.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Dislocation-graphene interactions in Cu/graphene composites and the effect of boundary conditions: a molecular dynamics study

Here, in this paper, systematic molecular dynamics simulations were employed to study dislocation-graphene interactions in Cu/graphene systems using two carefully selected configurations: (i) edge dislocations in the pileup interacting with graphene during nanoindentation and (ii) complex dislocations interacting with graphene in compression of layered nanopillars. The intrinsic and extrinsic size effects were investigated with respect to varying the Cu lamella thickness and pillar sizes, revealing an anomalous extrinsic size effect: the smaller, the weaker. To understand which boundary conditions are physically consistent, both free and periodic graphene were considered. It was seen that edge dislocations in the pileup continuously transmitted across the free graphene through Cu/graphene interfacial sliding and graphene reorientation, whereas transmission was very difficult for periodic graphene as its in-plane deformation was required. In compression of Cu/graphene nanopillars, the strengthening effect of free graphene was found to be less obvious than that of the periodic case, which could be attributed to free graphene edges acting as dislocation sources after the compressed Cu overflowed the graphene sheet from all directions. We therefore conclude that the strengthening effect of periodic graphene inclusions appears to be overestimated, such that free graphene should be more appropriate.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Effects of temperature on surface-controlled dislocation multiplication in body-centered-cubic metal nanowires

Recent computational studies revealed that screw dislocations in body-centered-cubic (bcc) metal nanowires can self-multiply through cross-slip near the free surface. This unique process was termed surface-controlled dislocation multiplication (SCDM). In bcc metals, screw dislocation motion and its cross-slip behavior are often related to thermally activated processes; due to this relation, SCDM is expected to be highly temperature-sensitive. In this study, therefore, we investigated how temperature influences the SCDM in bcc molybdenum and niobium nanowires using atomistic simulations. Regardless of the difference in lattice resistance at a given temperature, both systems show similar trends of critical shear stress of SCDM with respect to temperature. Further, the temperature dependence was found to be divided into three different regimes; (1) lattice-resistance-dominant; (2) segmentation-dominant; (3) steady-state segmentation. The presence of these three regimes will be discussed in terms of the temperature-dependence of the lattice resistance and the dynamics of dislocation segmentation in the nano-scale volume. Our results provide a fundamental understanding of screw dislocation behavior in bcc metals at the nanometer scale and varying temperatures.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

A 3D phase field dislocation dynamics model for body-centered cubic crystals

In this work, we present a 3D Phase Field Dislocation Dynamics (PFDD) model for body-centered cubic (BCC) metals. The model formulation is extended to account for the dependence of the Peierls barrier on the line-character of the dislocation. Simulations of the expansion of a dislocation loop belonging to {110} < 111 > the slip system are presented with direct comparison to Molecular Statics (MS) simulations. The extended PFDD model is able to capture the salient features of dislocation loop expansion predicted by MS simulations. In conclusion, the model is also applied to simulate the motion of a straight screw dislocation through kink-pair motion.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

A parallel discrete dislocation dynamics/kinetic Monte Carlo method to study non-conservative plastic processes

Non-conservative processes play a fundamental role in plasticity and are behind important macroscopic phenomena such as creep, dynamic strain aging, loop raft formation, etc. In the most general case, vacancy-induced dislocation climb is the operating unit mechanism. While dislocation/vacancy interactions have been modeled in the literature using a variety of methods, the approaches developed rely on continuum descriptions of both the vacancy population and its fluxes. However, there are numerous situations in physics where point defect populations display heterogeneous concentrations and/or non-smooth kinetics. Here, a kinetic Monte Carlo (kMC) approach for modeling vacancy transport in response to arbitrary stress fields is used. Vacancies are treated as point particles and are coupled to the dislocation substructure representing a deformed material via an advection term defined by the local stress gradients. The stress fields and the dislocation substructure are evolved using a discrete dislocation dynamics (DDD) module. To extend the coupled model to the treatment of large systems, we have implemented it in the massively-parallel DDD code ParaDiS. To avoid numerical incompatibilities associated with merging deterministic (DDD) and stochastic (kMC) integration algorithms, we cast the entire elasto-plastic-diffusive problem within a single stochastic framework, taking advantage of a parallel kMC algorithm to evolve the system as a single event-driven process. The large-scale implementation enables the study of the evolution of a variety of dislocation-defect scenarios governed by non-conservative transport kinetics. After carrying out an exhaustive numerical and computational analysis of our parallel algorithm, we show results that emphasize situations where inhomogeneous vacancy dynamics are of relevance, and compare discrete kinetics to continuum solutions for several cases.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Effects of solutes on dislocation nucleation from grain boundaries

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.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2017

A non-singular theory of dislocations in anisotropic crystals

Here we develop a non-singular theory of three-dimensional dislocation loops in a particular version of Mindlin's anisotropic gradient elasticity with up to six length scale parameters. The theory is systematically developed as a generalization of the classical anisotropic theory in the framework of linearized incompatible elasticity. The non-singular version of all key equations of anisotropic dislocation theory are derived as line integrals, including the Burgers displacement equation with isolated solid angle, the Peach-Koehler stress equation, the Mura-Willis equation for the elastic distortion, and the Peach-Koehler force. The expression for the interaction energy between two dislocation loops as a double line integral is obtained directly, without the use of a stress function. It is shown that all the elastic fields are non-singular, and that they converge to their classical counterparts a few characteristic lengths away from the dislocation core. In practice, the non-singular fields can be obtained from the classical ones by replacing the classical (singular) anisotropic Green's tensor with the non-singular anisotropic Green's tensor derived by Lazar and Po (2015b). The elastic solution is valid for arbitrary anisotropic media. In addition to the classical anisotropic elastic constants, the non-singular Green's tensor depends on a second order symmetric tensor of length scale parameters modeling a weak non-locality, whose structure depends on the specific class of crystal symmetry. The anisotropic Helmholtz operator defined by such tensor admits a Green's function which is used as the spreading function for the Burgers vector density. As a consequence, the Burgers vector density spreads differently in different crystal structures. Two methods are proposed to determine the tensor of length scale parameters, based on independent atomistic calculations of classical and gradient elastic constants. The anisotropic non-singular theory is shown to be in good agreement with molecular statics without fitting parameters, and unlike its singular counterpart, the sign of stress components does not show reversal as the core is approached. Compared to the isotropic solution, the difference in the energy density per unit length between edge and screw dislocations is more pronounced.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2018

Effects of Ag and Zr solutes on dislocation emission from Σ11(332)[110] symmetric tilt grain boundaries in Cu: Bigger is not always better

Solute additions are commonly used to stabilize nanocrystalline materials against grain growth, and can simultaneously enhance the strength of the material by impeding dislocation emission from the grain boundaries. In this study we demonstrate using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations that the effect of solutes on dislocation nucleation depends on the distribution of solutes at the grain boundary, and can vary dramatically depending on the solute type. Solutes with a smaller positive size mismatch to the host can be more effective in suppressing dislocation emission from grain boundaries than others that have larger mismatch. In particular, although Ag solutes have a smaller misfit with Cu than Zr solutes, the effect of Ag on the dislocation nucleation from grain boundaries in Cu can be larger than the corresponding effect of Zr. Furthermore, these findings are relevant to the search for optimal solute additions, which can strengthen a nanocrytalline material by suppressing the nucleation of dislocation slip from grain boundaries, while stabilizing it against grain growth.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Dislocation Loops in Proton Irradiated Uranium-Nitrogen-Oxygen System

Here in this study, we investigated the dislocation loop types formed in the proton-irradiated uranium-nitrogen-oxygen (U-N-O) system, which involves uranium mononitride (UN), uranium sesquinitride (a-U2N3), and uranium dioxide (UO2) phases. The dislocation loop formation is examined using specimens irradiated at 400°C and 710°C. Based on the detailed transmission-based electron microscopy characterization with i) the morphology-based on-zone and ii) the invisibility-criterion based two-beam condition imaging techniques, only a single type of dislocation loop in each phase is found: a/2?110?, a/2?111?, or a/3?111? dislocation loops in UN, a-U2N3, and UO2 phases, respectively. Molecular statics calculations for the formation energy of perfect and faulted dislocation loops in UN phases indicate a critical loop size of ~ 6 nm, above which perfect loops are energetically favorable. This could explain the absence of faulted loops in the experimental observation of the irradiated UN phase at two temperatures. This work will enhance the understanding of irradiation induced microstructural evolution for uranium nitrides as advanced nuclear fuels for the next-generation nuclear reactors.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Plastic deformation of submicron-sized crystals studied by in-situ Kikuchi diffraction and dislocation imaging

The plastic deformation of submicron-size copper single crystals in the form of pillars has been characterized during in-situ compression in the transmission electron microscope up to strains of 28-33% using a state-of-the-art holder (PI-95 PicoIndenter). The dimensions of the crystals used were approx. 500 Multiplication-Sign 250 Multiplication-Sign 200 nm{sup 3} with the compression axis oriented 1.6 Degree-Sign from [110]. Local crystallographic orientations have been determined with high accuracy using a Kikuchi diffraction method and glide of dislocations over a pillar has also been observed directly by dark field imaging. The variation in the local orientation during deformation has been followed by in-situ convergent beam electron Kikuchi diffraction. The in-situ observations have been followed up by post-deformation measurements with the samples still mounted in the electron microscope. Crystal breakup following localized deformation was observed in two of three crystals examined, and for all crystals the direction of rotation during deformation is in agreement with slip taking place on a subset of the four slip systems, with the highest Schmid factors on the (111) and (- 1-11) slip planes. A diffraction-based Burgers vector analysis confirms that the active dislocations are from slip systems with the highest Schmid factors. These results from testing of micropillars are in good agreement with the deformation behaviour previously reported for both single- and poly-crystal samples with dimensions in the millimetre range. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We performed in-situ plastic deformation of submicron-sized copper single crystals. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We measured in-situ and ex-situ crystal rotation and imaged dislocation activities. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We measured crystallographic orientations and analyzed dislocation Burgers vectors. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Crystals' rotation in agreement with slip of dislocations with highest Schmid factor. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer These results in good agreement with millimeter-scale samples' deformation behavior.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Orientation dependence of the dislocation microstructure in compressed body-centered cubic molybdenum

The orientation dependence of the deformation microstructure has been investigated in commercial pure molybdenum. After deformation, the dislocation boundaries of compressed molybdenum can be classified, similar to that in face-centered cubic metals, into three types: dislocation cells (Type 2), and extended planar boundaries parallel to (Type 1) or not parallel to (Type 3) a (110) trace. However, it shows a reciprocal relationship between face-centered cubic metals and body-centered cubic metals on the orientation dependence of the deformation microstructure. The higher the strain, the finer the microstructure is and the smaller the inclination angle between extended planar boundaries and the compression axis is. - Highlights: • A reciprocal relationship between FCC metals and BCC metals is confirmed. • The dislocation boundaries can be classified into three types in compressed Mo. • The dislocation characteristic of different dislocation boundaries is different.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Determination of dislocation density by electron backscatter diffraction and X-ray line profile analysis in ferrous lath martensite

The microstructure and the dislocation density in as-quenched ferrous lath martensite were studied by different methods. The blocks, packets and variants formed due to martensitic transformation were identified and their sizes were determined by electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD). Concomitant transmission electron microscopy (TEM) investigation revealed that the laths contain subgrains with the size between 50 and 100 nm. A novel evaluation procedure of EBSD images was elaborated for the determination of the density and the space distribution of geometrically necessary dislocations from the misorientation distribution. The total dislocation density obtained by X-ray diffraction line profile analysis was in good agreement with the value determined by EBSD, indicating that the majority of dislocations formed due to martensitic transformation during quenching are geometrically necessary dislocations.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

A comprehensive investigation of the strengthening effects of dislocations, texture and low and high angle grain boundaries in ultrafine grained AA6063 aluminum alloy

Highlights: • Evolution of microstructure and mechanical properties of AA6063 after severe plastic deformation was investigated. • Average cell size shows a more solid relationship with mechanical properties rather than the average grain size. • This indicates that in addition to high angle boundaries, cell boundaries play a strengthening role. - Abstract: The effect of equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) on the microstructure and mechanical properties of AA6063 aluminum alloy was investigated. For this purpose, samples of AA6063 aluminum alloy were deformed up to 10 passes using ECAP and the evolution of microstructure, texture and dislocation density was investigated. It was found that the dislocation density increased and cells mostly surrounded by low angle boundaries (LABs) formed after 2 passes ECAP. Increasing the dislocation density continued with further processing and reached a maximum at the 4th ECAP pass. With further deformation to 6 passes, the dislocation density reduced, the fraction of high angle boundaries (HABs) increased and the averages of cell size and grain size reduced, significantly, which indicated the occurrence of grain refinement. However, a slight increase in dislocation density, average cell size (ACS) and average grain size (AGS), indicating coarsening, occurred when 10 passes of ECAP are imposed. Hardness, yield (YS) and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) increased continuously although the most significant enhancement occurred after 2 passes of ECAP. Investigating the correlation between the microstructure and mechanical properties indicated that Hall-Petch relationship was valid for ultrafine grained AA6063 before the coarsening started provided that the property of interest was correlated to average cell size but not the average grain size.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Characterization of dislocation microstructures in cyclically deformed [001] copper single crystals using high voltage scanning transmission electron microscopy

Highlights: • High voltage scanning transmission electron microscopy is adopted. • Dislocation structure strongly depends on given plastic strain amplitude. • Evolution of dislocation structure from vein-like to labyrinth is revealed. - Abstract: Low-cycle fatigue tests of copper single crystals with the [001] stress axis were performed at room temperature under constant plastic shear strain amplitudes between γ{sub pl} = 3.5 × 10{sup − 4} and 1.0 × 10{sup − 2}. Characteristic dislocation structures, which are highly dependent on a given plastic strain amplitude, were observed by high voltage scanning transmission electron microscopy. A vein-like dislocation structure, having a parallelepiped shape with two longitudinal (100) and (001) sides, was periodically formed along the [010] direction at around γ{sub pl} = 1.0 × 10{sup − 3}. Labyrinth structure with the (100) and (001) dislocation walls was then gradually developed with increasing plastic strain amplitude.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Hydrogen influences thermal activation parameters for dislocation glide during low cycle fatigue of 316L stainless steel

Measurements of activation areas are used to investigate the effect of hydrogen on the kinetics of dislocation glide during cyclic deformation in cold-worked 316L stainless steel. Non-charged and hydrogen-precharged (H-precharged) specimens were tested in low cycle fatigue (LCF) under plastic strain control. A series of plastic strain rate changes was performed periodically at the peak true plastic strain from the first cycle to half-life, and at various plastic strain values around stable hysteresis loops near half-life to determine the operational activation area, Δ a ∗. Both material conditions demonstrate a rapid increase in Δ a ∗ during the initial rapid softening followed by a region of approximately constant values coinciding with a reduced rate of softening. Near half-life, hydrogen reduces Δ a ∗ at a given true stress due to its effect on the activation distance and obstacle spacing. The magnitudes of Δ a ∗ reveal that bypassing solutes, cutting forest dislocations, and initiating cross slip are important mechanisms of thermally activated dislocation glide at all amplitudes, except hydrogen suppresses cross slip at the lowest plastic strain amplitudes. These results are supported by electron microscopy characterization of deformed microstructures. A Haasen plot analysis indicates that forest dislocations control the kinetics of deformation in both material conditions. It also reveals the presence of athermal obstacles in both non-charged and H-precharged conditions, likely dense dislocation tangles and cell walls. Additionally, the effect of hydrogen on microstructure evolution (by reducing the propensity for cross slip) leads to a dependence of athermal stress on plastic strain amplitude.

Activation area↗
DOE OSTI2017

Comparison of dislocation content measured with transmission electron microscopy and micro-Laue diffraction based streak analysis

The subsurface dislocation content in a Ti-5Al-2.5Sn (wt%) uniaxial tension sample deformed at ambient temperature was characterized by peak streak analysis of micro-Laue diffraction patterns collected non-destructively by differential aperture X-raymicroscopy, and with focused ion beam transmission electron microscopy of material in the same volume. This comparison reveals that micro-Laue diffraction streak analysis based on an edge dislocation assumption can accurately identify the dominant dislocation slip system history (Burgers vector and plane observed by TEM), despite the fact that dislocations have predominantly screw character. As a result, other dislocations identified by TEM were not convincingly discernible from the peak streak analysis.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗