Stability of dislocation networks of low angle grain boundaries using a continuum energy formulation

Abstract

Low angle grain boundaries can be modeled as arrays of line defects (dislocations) in crystalline materials. The classical continuum models for energetics and dynamics of curved grain boundaries are mainly based on those with equilibrium dislocation structures without the long-range elastic interaction, leading to a capillary force proportional to the local curvature of the grain boundary. The new continuum model recently derived by Zhu and Xiang (J. Mech. Phys. Solids, 69,175-194,2014) incorporates both the long-range dislocation interaction energy and the local dislocation line energy, and enables the study of low angle grain boundaries with non-equilibrium dislocation structures that involves the long-range elastic interaction. Using this new energy formulation, we show that the orthogonal network of two arrays of screw dislocations on a planar twist low angle grain boundary is always stable subject to both perturbations of the constituent dislocations within the grain boundary and the perturbations of the grain boundary itself.