Computer simulation of a [110] edge dislocation intersecting a σ11 〈101〉 {131} grain boundary in aluminum

Abstract

The interactions of dislocations with grain boundaries are fundamental unit processes of crystal plasticity, and a detailed knowledge of these processes is crucial to the quantitative understanding of mechanical behavior of materials. There have been many atomistic studies of dislocations and grain boundaries (GBs) in metals, with relatively few efforts focused on the interaction of matrix dislocations with GBs. Typical problems include simulations of extrinsic GB dislocations or interactions of dislocations lying parallel to a GB, which exploit symmetry along the dislocation line for application of periodic boundary conditions. In an attempt to investigate the more general dislocation-GB interaction configurations, in the present work the authors perform an atomistic simulation of an edge dislocation intersecting a symmetric tilt GB out of the boundary plane, a problem that requires 3D geometry.