1 0 0] Dislocation core extension and decomposition in BCC bicrystal under biaxial loading

Abstract

The evolution of grain boundary dislocation structure under biaxial tension–compression loading is simulated by the phase field crystal (PFC) method for small angle symmetric tilt grain boundary (STGB) of body center cubic (BCC) bi-crystal. Extension of the STGB dislocation core under the strain and the extended width of the core with the strain increasing are studied. In the elastic deformation process under the loading, the extension of the grain boundary dislocation core is accompanied by increasing the strain energy of the system. When the extension of the dislocation core reaches maximum critical width, the extended dislocation core occurs to decompose into three dislocation cores, in which two cores is in no-extended state, the Burgers vector direction of which is in the same direction of the original extended dislocation. The other dislocation core is of the extended type which Burgers vector direction is opposite to the Burgers vector direction of the original extended dislocation core. By establishing the macroscopic energy equation of the extended dislocation core system, it can be well revealed that the elastic strain energy is mainly stored in the extended dislocation defects and the complete lattice of the matrix. At the same time, it also reveals the function relationship between the energy of the extended dislocation core and the width of the extended dislocation during the biaxial loading process of the bi-crystal, as well as the critical condition of energy instability and the change of the energy barrier of the system for the dislocation extension core decomposition.