Dislocation Sources Research Articles

Segregation-dislocation self-organized structures ductilize a work-hardened medium entropy alloy

Dislocations are the intrinsic origin of crystal plasticity. However, initial high-density dislocations in work-hardened materials are commonly asserted to be detrimental to ductility according to textbook strengthening theory. Inspired by the self-organized critical states of non-equilibrium complex systems in nature, we explored the mechanical response of an additively manufactured medium entropy alloy with segregation-dislocation self-organized structures (SD-SOS). We show here that when initial dislocations are in the form of SD-SOS, the textbook theory that dislocation hardening inevitably sacrifices ductility can be overturned. Our results reveal that the SD-SOS, in addition to providing dislocation sources by emitting dislocations and stacking faults, also dynamically interacts with gliding dislocations to generate sustainable Lomer-Cottrell locks and jogs for dislocation storage. The effective dislocation multiplication and storage capabilities lead to the continuous refinement of planar slip bands, resulting in high ductility in the work-hardened alloy produced by additive manufacturing. These findings set a precedent for optimizing the mechanical behavior of alloys via tuning dislocation configurations.

Comparative Study of the Tensile Properties of a Zircaloy-4 Alloy Characterized by Mesoscale and Standard Specimens

The accuracy and reliability of small-scale mechanical tests remain doubtful due to significant dependence of the obtained mechanical properties on specimen size. Mesoscale tensile tests with specimen sizes ranging from 10 μm to 1 mm are capable of obtaining bulk-like properties but are rarely applied to hexagonal close-packed metals. In this study, well-designed comparative tensile tests were carried out on a Zircaloy-4 alloy with a grain size of 4 μm using femtosecond laser-machined mesoscale specimens with a thickness of about 60 μm, sub-sized specimens with a thickness of about 1.3 mm, and standard specimens with a thickness of 4 mm. The quantitative results revealed that irrespective of the small specimen dimensions, the yield strength, tensile strength, and tensile ductility are only approximately 10.4%, 5.2%, and 13% lower than those of the standard specimens, respectively. This clearly demonstrates that the mechanical properties can be assessed with satisfactory accuracy by mesoscale tensile tests. The comparatively greater deviation of the yield strength at the mesoscale arises from the disappearance of yield point behavior, while the reduced tensile ductility is associated with the larger volume fraction of surface grains. The surface grains are characterized by more surface dislocation sources and deform with weaker constraints from neighboring grains, leading to smooth plastic yielding and slightly reduced strain hardening at the mesoscale.

Discrete slip plane analysis of ferrite microtensile tests: Influence of dislocation source distribution and non-Schmid effects on slip system activity

Discrete slip plane analysis of ferrite microtensile tests: Influence of dislocation source distribution and non-Schmid effects on slip system activity

Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Low-Cycle Fatigue Behavior of Single/Polycrystalline Iron

The fatigue plastic mechanism and dislocation characteristics of engineering materials are the key to studying fatigue damage. In this study, the molecular dynamics (MD) method was employed to investigate the microstructural characteristics and fatigue mechanical properties of both single-crystalline and polycrystalline iron under varying strain amplitudes associated with cyclic hardening, cyclic softening, and cyclic saturation. The occurrence, accumulation, and formation process of the local plastic fatigue damage of monocrystalline/polycrystalline iron under fatigue load are discussed. The local plastic initiation and accumulation of single-crystal iron occur at the intersection of slip planes, which is the dislocation source. The 1/2<111> dislocation plays an important role in the fatigue plastic accumulation of single-crystal iron. Polycrystalline iron undergoes grain rotation and coalescence during cyclic loading. The grain size responsible for plastic deformation gradually increases. The initiation and accumulation of local plasticity occurs at the grain boundary, which eventually leads to fatigue damage at the grain boundary.

The effects of surface kink nucleation on the dislocation mobility for bcc metals: a kinetic Monte Carlo study

Abstract Dislocation plasticity in bcc metals at low temperatures and stresses is well known to be controlled by screw dislocation mobility. Screw dislocations move by the nucleation of kink-pairs on the dislocation line and is a relatively well studied phenomenon. However, how screw dislocation mobility is influenced by interfaces and surfaces has not been well-studied. To provide insight into the role interfaces play in screw dislocation mobility, this study proposes an empirical model to treat a grain boundary as a dislocation source, which is then implemented into kinetic Monte Carlo simulations for body-centered-cubic (bcc) metals. This effort focuses on the roles of kink nucleation and migration processes at the interface, comparing the energetics of these events on interfaces versus those on the interior of the dislocation line. The findings reveal that interfaces can either enhance dislocation motion or not affect it at all, depending on temperature, stress, and dislocation length. This work provides insights into the mesoscale behavior of bcc metals and bridges the gap between experimental observations and computational models at small scales.

A Complex Concentrated Alloy with Record-High Strength-Toughness at 77 K.

High strength and large ductility, leading to a high material toughness (area under the stress-strain curve), are desirable for alloys used in cryogenic applications. Assisted by domain-knowledge-informed machine learning, here a complex concentrated Fe35Co29Ni24Al10Ta2 alloy is designed, which uses L12 coherent nanoprecipitates in a high volume fraction (≈65 ± 3 vol.%) in a face-centered-cubic (FCC) solid solution matrix that undergoes FCC-to-body-centered-cubic (BCC) phase transformation upon tensile straining. Unlike FCC-to-BCT phase transformation involving brittle carbon-enriched martensite, the BCC martensite in this alloy does not cause brittleness at 77 K. The Fe35Co29Ni24Al10Ta2 multi-principal element alloy achieves a high yield strength ≈1.4GPa, a high work hardening rate >4GPa, an ultimate tensile strength ≈2.25GPa, and a large uniform elongation ≈45%, leading to record-high material toughness compared with previous cryogenic alloys such as 316L series stainless steels and recent high-entropy alloys. The nanoprecipitates with nanoscale spacing (≈7.5nm), apart from serving as dislocation obstacles for strengthening and dislocation sources for sustainable ductility, also undergo deformation twinning. Taken together, these mechanisms are found to be highly effective in strengthening and strain hardening upon tensile straining at liquid nitrogen temperature. These findings demonstrate how to effectively integrate strengthening mechanisms to synergize superior mechanical properties in special-purpose alloys.

A Physics‐Based Simulation Approach for Urban‐Scale Earthquake Disaster From Fault to City: Theory, Verification, and Application

ABSTRACTBy employing the frequency‐wavenumber (FK) method to simulate the propagation of seismic wavefield in the crustal layer, using the spectral element method (SEM) to simulate the propagation of wavefield in the near‐surface soil, and using the multi‐degree‐of‐freedom (MDOF) model to simulate the seismic response of building clusters in city, this paper establishes the FK‐SE‐MDOF approach (a two‐step method) for urban earthquake disaster analysis of fault‐to‐city based on the concept of domain reduction. The approach can simultaneously consider factors such as earthquake source parameters, propagation paths, local site effects, site‐city interaction (SCI) effects, and the dynamic nonlinear responses of buildings (hereafter referred to as source‐to‐city factors) in a physics‐based model. Firstly, the theories of the approach were introduced, and the correctness of the approach was verified. Furthermore, the applicability and the necessity of considering source‐to‐city factors were examined using a building cluster on an ideal sedimentary basin under the action of a point dislocation source. Finally, the seismic response of buildings in a region was simulated using buildings in the Nankai District of Tianjin as examples. This approach avoids the influences caused by expert experience differences in empirical and hybrid methods, establishes a connection between fault rupture and buildings dynamic response, and can more realistically reflect the distribution of seismic wavefields, building seismic responses, and damage state distribution under the earthquake scenario. It can be applied to earthquake disaster simulation for urban buildings at the scale of tens of thousands of buildings, and the simulation results can provide quantitative guidance for urban planning, earthquake‐resistant design, risk assessment, post‐earthquake rescue, etc.

Simultaneously achieving strength-ductility in additive-manufactured Ti6Al4V alloy via ultrasonic surface rolling process

Additively manufactured alloys have a great potential in engineering field, but there still have many issues to be addressed, i.e., the reliability, strength-ductility trade-off of manufactured parts. In this study, a treatment called ultrasonic surface rolling process (USRP) was utilized to achieve superior strength and ductility in the Ti6Al4V alloy prepared via electron beam melting (EBM). The treated additive-manufactured alloy obtained various gradient microstructures and excellent surface quality, as well as its mechanical properties were significantly improved. Especially, the USRP-3 specimen exhibited a high elongation of 17.1 ± 0.9 % and a good ultimate tensile strength of 1043 ± 5.0 MPa, which were both higher than those of untreated specimen; the fine laminated structure with a preferred orientation of (101‾0) direction and gradient structure promoted the hardening capacity and provided the rich dislocations sources, taking a better strength-ductility combination. In addition, the surface microhardness of the multi-pass processed specimen was markedly enhanced. However, excessive USRP treatment would induce micro-cracks in the nano-composite layer, resulting in a significant reduction in ductility. Therefore, appropriate USRP treatment is expected to expand the application range of additive-manufactured metallic materials.

Rare earth element enhanced strength and ductility of 316L austenitic stainless steel fabricated using laser powder bed fusion

The laser-powder-bed-fusion (LPBF) fabricated 316L austenitic stainless steel was strengthened by incorporating varying contents of rare earth oxide (La2O3) particles. The La2O3 particles significantly contributed to the strength-ductility synergy. Specifically, incorporating 0.5 wt% La2O3 particles could optimize the ultimate tensile strength to 728.1 MPa and elongation to 38.0 %, with an increase of 13.3 % and 31.5 % compared with 316L matrix, respectively. A quantitative model was employed to evaluate the strengthening mechanisms of La2O3 particles including the Hall–Petch strengthening, Orowan strengthening, increased density of geometrically necessary dislocations (GND), and the load transfer effect. The dense La2O3 particles also act as dislocation sources, resulting in ductility enhancement. However, increasing La2O3 content tends to promote defect formation, decreasing the strength and ductility of the 316L-1.0La2O3 materials.

Molecular dynamics study on mechanical properties and plastic deformation mechanism of GNPs/Mg composites

This study utilizes molecular dynamics methods to embedded GNPs (graphene nanosheets) of uniform size and thickness into single crystal Mg, establishing a GNPs/Mg composite model. The mechanical properties and plastic deformation behavior of the composite under various compression conditions (volume fraction of GNPs, strain rate, and temperature) are investigated. The results indicate that uniformly distributed GNPs enhance load transfer and provide dispersion strengthening, effectively improving the composite's mechanical properties. As the volume fraction of GNPs increases, the yield stress of the composite first increases and then decreases. When the volume fraction of GNPs is 3.9 %, both the yield stress and Young's modulus of the composite reach their maximum values of 9.16 GPa and 108.83 GPa, respectively. The uniformly dispersed GNPs constrain dislocations on prismatic and pyramidal planes, thereby suppressing twinning deformation. Consequently, dislocation slip predominantly occurs as 1/3<-1100> partial dislocations on the (0001) basal plane. Young's modulus is not sensitive to strain rate; as the strain rate increases from 0.0025 Å·ps⁻¹ to 0.0125 Å·ps⁻¹, the yield stress rises from 8.50 GPa to 10.42 GPa. At high strain rates, only some dislocation sources are activated, and the number of 1/3<-1100> partial dislocations decreases with increasing strain rate. Within the temperature range of 100 K to 500 K, both the elastic modulus and yield stress of the GNPs/Mg composite decrease with increasing temperature.

Optimal Arrangements and Local Anisotropy of {100} Guinier-Preston (GP) Zones by Parametric Dislocation Dynamics (PDD) Simulations.

Stress-oriented precipitation and the resulting mechanical anisotropy have been widely studied over the decades. However, the local anisotropy of precipitates with specific orientations has been less thoroughly investigated. This study models the interaction between an edge dislocation source and {100} variants of Guinier-Preston (GP) zones in Al-Cu alloys using the parametric dislocation dynamics (PDD) method. Concentric geometrically necessary dislocation (GND) loops were employed to construct a line integral model for thin platelets. The simulations, conducted with our self-developed code based on Green's function method and Eshelby inclusion theory revealed distinct strengthening behavior along the strong and weak directions for 60° GP zones, demonstrating anisotropic strengthening from the perspective of elastic interactions. Furthermore, the optimal inclined arrangement of the GP zone array was determined through elastic energy calculations, and these results were corroborated by TEM observations.

Multi-scale ceramic TiC solves the strength-plasticity equilibrium problem of high entropy alloy

High entropy alloys (HEAs) with single FCC structure exhibits unique structure and properties. However, lack of strength hinds the engineering application ability seriously. Therefore, it is urgent to propose effective methods and theories to enhance the strength while maintaining favorable plasticity. Introducing reinforced phases is one crucial research approach for improving the mechanical properties of HEAs. However, the resulting reduction in ductility has been neglected. In this work, we propose a novel multi-scale TiC coupling reinforced alloy which preserves the high plasticity while increasing the strength. The results demonstrate that TiC (μm) hinders the dislocations movement and improves strength through the second phase strengthening mechanism. Apart from acting as barriers to dislocation motion, the TiC (nm) also provides more dislocation sources in the distortion area at the junction with the matrix, which increasing the number of movable dislocations and enhancing the plastic strain capacity. Compared with the Al0.4 alloy, the tensile yield strength of the Al0.4-TiC (μm + nm) alloy is increased by 145 %, the ultimate tensile strength is up to 574 MPa, while maintaining a high plastic strain by 30.1 %. The addition of multi-scale ceramic phase TiC provides a novel approach to obtain high strength and high plasticity HEAs.

Microstructure, mechanical and wear behavior of AlxTi(1−x)CoCrFeNi (x = 0.875, 0.75) high-entropy coatings fabricated via HVOF and post-annealing

AlxTi(1−x)CoCrFeNi (x = 0.875, 0.75) high-entropy coatings (HECs) were prepared using High-Velocity Oxygen-Fuel technology, and then underwent vacuum annealing at 500 ℃, 700 ℃, 900 ℃, and 1100 ℃, respectively. The sprayed coatings exhibited BCC phase, with the hardness increasing as the Ti content added. The wear mechanism of the HECs included abrasive, adhesion and oxidation wear. The microstructure and phase structure of the HECs annealed at 500 ℃ were basically consistent with the as-sprayed coatings. The Al0.75Ti0.25CoCrFeNi HEC nanohardness reached the peak (19.6 ± 1.1 GPa) and had the best wear resistance (1.8 ×10−5 mm3 N−1 m−1) due to the grain boundary dislocation source strengthening. With the annealing temperature increasing, the BCC to FCC phase transition occurred, the grains coarsened, the hardness decreased, and oxidation wear were intensified.

Transcrystalline Mechanism of Banded Spherulites Development in Melt-Crystallized Semicrystalline Polymers.

The decades-long paradigm of continuous and perpetual lamellar twisting constituting banded spherulites has been found to be inconsistent with several recent studies showing discontinuity regions between consecutive bands, for which, however, no explanation has been found. The present research demonstrates, in three different semicrystalline polymers (HDPE, PEG10000 and Pluronic F-127), that sequential transcrystallinity is the predominant mechanism of banded spherulite formation, heterogeneously nucleated on intermittent self-shear-oriented amorphous layers excluded during the crystals' growth. It is hereby demonstrated that a transcrystalline layer can be nucleated on amorphous self-shear-oriented polymer chains in the melt, by a local melt flow in the bulk or in contact with any interface-even in contact with the interface with air, e.g., in contact with an entrapped air bubble or at the edges of the sample-or nucleated following the multiple directions and orientations induced by a turbulent flow. The bilateral excessive local exclusion of amorphous non-crystallizable material, following a short period of initial non-banded growth, is found to be the source of dislocations leading to spirally banded spherulites, through the transcrystalline layers' nucleation thereon. The present research reveals and demonstrates the sequential transcrystalline morphology of banded spherulites and the mechanism of its formation, which may lead to new insights in the understanding and design of polymer processing for specific applications.

An order-disorder core-shell strategy for enhanced work-hardening capability and ductility in nanostructured alloys

Nanocrystalline metallic materials have the merit of high strength but usually suffer from poor ductility and rapid grain coarsening, limiting their practical application. Here, we introduce a core-shell nanostructure in a multicomponent alloy to address these challenges simultaneously, achieving a high tensile strength of 2.65 GPa, a large uniform elongation of 17%, and a high thermal stability of 1173 K. Our strategy relies on an ordered superlattice structure that excels in dislocation accumulation, encased by a ≈3 nm disordered face-centered-cubic nanolayer acting as dislocation sources. The ordered superlattice with high anti-phase boundary energy retards dislocation motions, promoting their interaction and storage within the nanograins. The disordered interfacial nanolayer promotes dislocation emission and effectively accommodates the plastic strain at grain boundaries, preventing intergranular cracking. Consequently, the order-disorder core-shell nanostructure exhibits enhanced work-hardening capability and large ductility. Moreover, such core-shell nanostructure exhibits high coarsening resistance at elevated temperatures, enabling it high thermal stability. Such a design strategy holds promise for developing high-performance materials.

Gradient microstructures and mechanical properties of WAAMed and aged Al–Cu alloy after laser shock peening

The integration of wire-arc additive manufacture (WAAM) and laser shock peening (LSP) facilitated the study of the gradient microstructure in T6-treated WAAM Al–Cu alloy and the synergistic strengthening mechanisms involving the precipitation phase and LSP parameters. The results indicate that pore closures, increases in kernel average misorientation (KAM), and low angle grain boundary (LAGB) are positively associated with LSP energy density. Residual stress positively correlates with LSP energy density and inversely with spot diameter, where larger spots exacerbate non-uniformity. The values of dislocation density, microhardness and residual stress of the post-LSP specimen gradually increase with the increase of depth, and reach the maximum value at ~100 μm. As the depth continues to increase, the value begins to decrease gradually. Dislocation accumulation near grain boundaries, interacting with θ’-Al2Cu, contributes to strength enhancement. The main strengthening mechanisms enhanced by LSP involve creating a gradient microstructure through significant plastic deformation, pore closure, and the presence of high-density dislocations. Post-T6 treatment, θ’-Al2Cu significantly restricts dislocation slip, pins dislocations, and encourages the emergence of new dislocation sources, thereby enhancing the strengthening effect and stability induced by LSP.

The effect of dislocation pile-up on microcrack initiation in microcrystalline materials in the hydrogen environment

In this paper, hydrogen (H) induced microcrack initiation in the first stage of crack propagation is studied. Based on the knowledge of fracture mechanics and discrete distributed dislocation method, the interaction model between hydrogen atoms at crack tip and dislocation source, the grain boundary (GB) penetration model and microcrack initiation criterion are established, and the microcrack initiation mechanism caused by dislocation pile-up near the grain boundary 2 (GB2) is studied. Meanwhile, the mechanism of dislocation synthesis (DS) caused by dislocation stacking is studied. The results show that hydrogen atoms promote the emission of dislocations at the crack tip. The distribution of H atoms at the crack tip (CT) leads to an increase in the number of dislocations penetrating the grain boundary, and the number of dislocation pile-up in the second phase grain increases. In the hydrogen environment, the number of dislocation pile-up near GB2 increases, resulting in a large stress concentration near GB2, which makes microcracks more likely to occur. At the same time, H can decrease the surface energy of materials, making materials more prone to brittle fracture. The study of hydrogen induced crack initiation is helpful to understand and control the impact of H on the performance and reliability of metal materials, which plays a crucial role in improving the working efficiency and service life of metal materials.

Elastic strain mapping of plastically deformed materials by TEM

A method for mapping elastic strains by TEM in plastically deformed materials is presented. A characteristic feature of plastically deformed materials, which cannot be handled by standard strain measurement method, is the presence of orientation gradients. To circumvent this issue, we couple orientation and strain maps obtained from scanning precession electron diffraction datasets. More specifically, orientation gradients are taken into account by 1) identifying the diffraction spot positions in a reference pattern, 2) measuring the disorientation between the diffraction patterns in the map and the reference pattern, 3) rotating the coordinate system following the measured disorientation at each position in the map, 4) calculating strains in the rotated coordinate system. At present, only azimuthal rotations of the crystal are handled. The method is illustrated on a Cr2AlC monocrystal micropilar deformed in near simple flexion during a nanomechanical test. After plastic deformation, the sample contains dislocations arranged in pile-ups and walls. The strain-field around each dislocation is consistent with theory, and a clear difference is observed between the strain fields around pile-ups and walls. It is further remarked that strain maps allow for the orientation of the Burgers vector to be identified. Since the loading undergone by the sample is known, this also allows for the position of the dislocation sources to be estimated. Perspectives for the study of deformed materials are finally discussed.

Microstructures, mechanical properties, and strengthening mechanisms of the (NbMoTa)100−xCx refractory medium-entropy alloys

Refractory high/medium-entropy alloys (RH/MEAs) are known for their outstanding performance at elevated temperatures; however, they usually exhibit poor room-temperature plasticity, which can be attributed to the non-uniform deformation that occurs at room temperature. Once cracks nucleate, they will rapidly propagate into vertical splitting cracks. Here, we introduce multiple phases including FCC and HCP phases into the NbMoTa RMEA via appropriate addition of carbon. The results show that multiple-phase synergy effectively suppresses non-uniform deformation, thereby delaying the onset of vertical splitting cracks. An optimal combination of compressive strength-plasticity is achieved by the (NbMoTa)92.5C7.5 alloy. The significant improvement in room-temperature mechanical properties can be attributed to its hierarchical microstructure: in the mesoscale, the BCC matrix is divided by eutectic structures; while at the microscale, the BCC matrix is further refined by abundant lath-like FCC precipitates. The FCC precipitates contain high-density stacking faults, acting as a dislocation source under compressive loading. The HCP phase in the eutectic microstructures, in turn, acts as a strong barrier to dislocation movement and simultaneously increases the dislocation storage capacity. These findings open a new route to tailor the microstructure and mechanical properties of RH/MEAs.

Mechanical behavior and underlying mechanism of nickel-based superalloy during coupling electrical pulse and ultrasonic treatment

Coupling electric pulse and ultrasonic treatment (CEPUT) is a multi-energy field-assisted forming technology that can improve the forming efficiency of materials. The current research focused on the surface modification of materials by CEPUT, lacking the explanation of its coupling mechanism. In this study, Inconel 718 was adopted as the research object to observe the mechanical behavior and microstructure after CEPUT uniaxial tension experiment. The deformation tendency of grain under coupling multi-energy field was described by analyzing the texture evolution and dislocation morphology. The coupling mechanism of ultrasonic vibration and pulsed current was revealed in CEPUT. The experimental results revealed that there was a nonlinear relationship between the increase of flow stress softening efficiency and the increase of ultrasonic energy density and current density. This phenomenon was the macroscopic manifestation of interference between initial ultrasonic vibration and vibration after energy attenuation, which was related to dislocation slip and recrystallization under coupled multi-field. In addition, more efficient path of dislocation slip was demonstrated through the CEPUT. Among them, ultrasonic vibration caused local resistance to rise at the dislocation source and dislocation pile-up, which strengthened the local Joule heating effect; while the pulsed current reduced the activation energy required for dislocation slip near the waning points. This effectively reduced the resistance of dislocation motion near the pinning point, promoting the chance of dislocation crossing and annihilation. Meanwhile, the high temperature caused by pulsed current and local high strain caused by ultrasonic vibration were more favorable to dynamic recrystallization, and the change of grain orientation was more active. The texture strength and grain orientation of the matrix can be effectively controlled by adjusting the input power of ultrasonic vibration and pulsed current.