Abstract
To comprehend the mechanical behavior of a polycrystalline material, an in-depth analysis of individual grain boundary (GB) and dislocation interactions is of prime importance. In the past decade, nanoindentation emerged as a powerful tool to study the local mechanical response in the vicinity of the GB. The improved instrumentation and test protocols allow to capture various GB–dislocation interactions during the nanoindentation in the form of strain bursts on the load–displacement curve. Moreover, the interaction of the plastic zone with the GB provides important insight into the dislocation transmission effects of distinct grain boundaries. Of great importance for the analysis and interpretation of the observed effects are microstructural investigations and computational approaches. This review paper focused on recent advances in the dislocation–GB interactions and underlying mechanisms studied via nanoindentation, which includes GB pop-in phenomenon, localized grain movement under ambient conditions, and an analysis of the slip transfer mechanism using theoretical treatments and simulations.Graphical abstract
Highlights
The plastic behavior of metals is mainly governed by the motion of dislocations, whereas in polycrystalline materials, dislocation–grain boundary (GB) interactions strongly impact the mechanical response [1–10]
Grain boundaries play a paramount role in the deformation of polycrystalline materials, dislocation–grain boundary interactions lead to different deformation mechanisms, which need to be studied in detail
Recent advances on dislocation–individual grain boundary interactions studied via nanoindentation testing are reviewed, which are mainly focused on the experimental studies on the occurrence of the GB pop-in events, localized GB movement under ambient conditions, and an analysis of the slip transfer mechanism using theoretical treatments and simulations
Summary
The plastic behavior of metals is mainly governed by the motion of dislocations, whereas in polycrystalline materials, dislocation–grain boundary (GB) interactions strongly impact the mechanical response [1–10]. Referring to the continuum scale, strain gradient crystal plasticity frameworks with the potential of contributing a description of GNDs into traditional plasticity theories, are of high interest These frameworks may provide an observation dislocation pile-up at GBs as well as a formulation of microforces acting at GBs. in a combination of this framework with a GB theory such as the model proposed by Gurtin [113], the effects of geometric criteria, the role of shear stresses on the directional flows, and effects of residual burgers vectors at GBs are all taken into account. Of nanoindentation in the vicinity of grain boundaries have been endeavored in [118–120]
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