Grain Boundary Effects On Plastic Deformation And Fracture Mechanisms In Cu Nanowires: Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Metallic nanowires have many attractive properties such as ultra-high yield strength and large tensile elongation. However, recent experiments show that metallic nanowires often contain grain boundaries, which are expected to significantly affect mechanical properties. By using molecular dynamics simulations, here, we demonstrate that polycrystalline Cu nanowires exhibit tensile deformation behavior distinctly different from their single-crystal counterparts. A significantly lowered yield strength was observed as a result of dislocation emission from grain boundaries rather than from free surfaces, despite of the very high surface to volume ratio. Necking starts from the grain boundary followed by fracture, resulting in reduced tensile ductility. The high stresses found in the grain boundary region clearly play a dominant role in controlling both inelastic deformation and fracture processes in nanoscale objects. These findings have implications for designing stronger and more ductile structures and devices on nanoscale.

Scaling Functions In Conical Indentation Of Elastic-Plastic Solids

The finite element method was used to simulate the conical indentation of elastic-plastic solids with work hardening. The ratio of the initial yield strength to the Young's modulus Y/E ranged from 0 to 0.02. Based on the calculation results, two sets of scaling functions for non-dimensional hardness H/K and indenter penetration h are presented in the paper, which have closed simple mathematical form and can be used easily for engineering application. Using the present scaling functions, indentation hardness and indentation loading curves can be easily obtained for a given set of material properties. Meanwhile one can use these scaling functions to obtain material parameters by an instrumented indentation load-displacement curve for loading and unloading if Young's modulus E and Poisson's ratio nu are known.

Effect of a laser pre-quenched steel substrate surface on the crack driving force in a coating-steel substrate system

A mechanical model of a coating/laser pre-quenched steel substrate specimen with a crack oriented perpendicular to the interface between the coating and the hardened layer is developed to quantify the effects of the residual stress and hardness gradient on the crack driving force in terms of the J-integral. It is assumed that the crack tip is in the middle of the hardened layer of the pre-quenched steel substrate. Using a composite double cantilever beam model, analytical solutions can be derived, and these can be used to quantify the effects of the residual stress and the hardness gradient resulting from the pre-quenched steel substrate surface on the crack driving force. A numerical example is presented to investigate how the residual compressive stress, the coefficient linking microhardness and yield strength and the Young's modulus ratio of the hardened layer to the coating influence the crack driving force for a given crack length. (C) 2007 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Molecular dynamics studies on the dislocation gliding near a tilt boundary

The gliding behavior of edge dislocation near a grain boundary(QB) in copper under pure shear stresses is simulated by using molecular dynamics(MD) method. Many-body potential incorporating the embedded atom method (EAM) is used. The critical shear stresses for a single disocation to pass across GB surface are obtained at values of sigma(c)=23MPa similar to 68 MPa and 137 MPa similar to 274 MPa for Sigma=165 small angle tilt GB at 300 K and 20 K, respectively. The first result agrees with the experimental yield stress sigma(y)(=42 MPa) quite well. It suggests that there might be one of the reasons of initial plastic yielding caused by single dislocation gliding across GB. In addition, there might be possibility to obtain yield strength from microscopic analysis. Moreover, the experimental value of sigma(y) at low temperature is generally higher than that at room temperature. So, these results are in conformity qualitatively with experimental fact. On the other hand, the Sigma=25 GB is too strong an obstacle to the dislocation. In this case, a dislocation is able to pass across GB under relatively low stress only when it is driven by other dislocations. This is taken to mean that dislocation pile-up must be built up in front of this kind of GB, if this GB may take effect on the process of plastic deformation.

Fatigue crack-growth from a circular notch under high-levels of biaxial stress

A series of experiments have been conducted on cruciform specimens to investigate fatigue crack growth from circular notches under high levels of biaxial stress. Two stress levels (Δσ₁= 380 and 560 MPa) and five stress biaxialities (λ=+1.0, +0.5, 0, −0.5 and −1.0; where λ=σ₂/σ₁ were adopted in the fatigue tests in type 316 stainless steel having a monotonic yield strength of 243 MPa. The results reveal that fatigue crack growth rates are markedly influenced by both the stress amplitude and the stress biaxiality. A modified model has been developed to describe fatigue crack growth under high levels of biaxial stress.

Effect of grain size on slow fatigue crack propagation and plastic deformation near crack tip

Fatigue crack growth and its threshold are investigated at a stress ratio of 0.5 for the three-point bend specimen made of Austenitic stainless steel. The effect of grain size on the crack tip plastic deformation is investigated. The results show that the threshold value Δkth increases linearly with the square root of grain size d and the growth rate is slower for materials with larger grain size. The plastic zone size and ratio for different grain sizes are different at the threshold. The maximum stress intensity factor is kmax and σys is the yield strength. At the same time, the characteristics of the plastic deformation development is discontinuous and anti-symmetric as the growth rate is increased from 2·10—8 to 10−7 mm/cycle.

YAG激光毛化技术进展

二十世纪八十年代，当比利时冶金研究中心(CRM)开发出CO_2激光毛化冷轧辊技术后，尝试用YAG激光进行轧辊毛化一直吸引着众多的研究者，这是因为YAG(1.06μm)激光波长比CO_2(10.6μm)激光波长短一个量级，材料对YAG激光有更高的吸收率，并用YAG激光可以聚焦到更小的光斑尺寸，同时使用电信号驱动的声光开关技术便于对毛化分布进行可设定控制。但是用传统声光调制的YAG激光虽然可以碇以很高的脉冲频率(>30kHz)，但单脉冲有量仅为10mJ左右，难以达到辊面毛化粗糙度的要求，因此人们认为YAG激光用于毛化的主要困难是脉冲能量太小。

Mechanics of metallic foams: A fractal approach

A fractal approach was proposed to investigate the meso structures and size effect of metallic foams: For a series At foams of different relative densities, the information dimension method was applied to measure meso structures. The generalized sierpinski carpet was introduced to map the meso structures of the foam according to specific dimension. The results show that the fractal-based model can not only reveal the variation of yield strength with specimen size, but also bridge the meso structures and mechanical proper-ties of Al foams directly. Key words: metallic foams; fractal; size effect; meso structures

Prevalence Of Shear Banding In Compression Of Zr41Ti14Cu12.5Ni10Be22.5 Pillars As Small As 150 Nm In Diameter

Recently, the size dependence of mechanical behaviors, particularly the yield strength and plastic deformation mode, of bulk metallic glasses (BMG) has created a great deal of interest. Contradicting conclusions have been drawn by different research groups, based on various experiments on different BMG systems. Based on in situ compression transmission electron microscopy (TEM) experiments on Zr41Ti14Cu12.5Ni10Be22.5 (Vit 1) nanopillars, this paper provides strong evidence that shear banding still prevails at specimen length scales as small as 150 nm in diameter. This is supported by in situ and ex situ images of shear bands, and by the carefully recorded displacement bursts under load control its well as load drops under displacement control. Finite element modeling of the stress state within the pillar shows that the unavoidable geometry constraints accompanying such experiments impart a strong effect on the experimental results, including non-uniform stress distributions and high level hydrostatic pressures. The seemingly improved compressive ductility is believed to be due to such geometry constraints. Observations underscore the notion that the mechanical behavior of metallic glasses, including strength and plastic deformation mode, is size independent at least in Vit 1. (C) 2009 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Mechanical Model For The Quantification Of The Effect Of Laser Quenching On Ctod In Steels

The technology of laser quenching is widely used to improve the surface properties of steels in surface engineering. Generally, laser quenching of steels can lead to two important results. One is the generation of residual stress in the surface layer. In general, the residual stress varies from the surface to the interior along the quenched track depth direction, and the residual stress variation is termed as residual stress gradient effect in this work. The other is the change of mechanical properties of the surface layer, such as the increases of the micro-hardness, resulting from the changes of the microstructure of the surface layer. In this work, a mechanical model of a laser-quenched specimen with a crack in the middle of the quenched layer is developed to quantify the effect of residual stress gradient and the average micro-hardness over the crack length on crack tip opening displacement (CTOD). It is assumed that the crack in the middle of the quenched layer is created after laser quenching, and the crack can be a pre-crack or a defect due to some reasons, such as a void, cavity or a micro-crack. Based on the elastic-plastic fracture mechanics theory and using the relationship between the micro-hardness and yield strength, a concise analytical solution, which can be used to quantify the effect of residual stress gradient and the average micro-hardness over the crack length resulting from laser quenching on CTOD, is obtained. The concise analytical solution obtained in this work, cannot only be used as a means to predict the crack driving force in terms of the CTOD, but also serve as a baseline for further experimental investigation of the effect after laser-quenching treatment on fracture toughness in terms of the critical CTOD of a specimen, accounting for the laser-quenching effect. A numerical example presented in this work shows that the CTOD of the quenched can be significantly decreased in comparison with that of the unquenched. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The main factor influencing the tensile properties of surface nano-crystallized graded materials

The improved mechanical properties of surface nano-crystallized graded materials produced by surface severe plastic deformation ((SPD)-P-2) are generally owing to the effects of the refined structure, work-hardened region and compressive residual stress. However, during the (SPD)-P-2 process, residual stress is produced simultaneously with work-hardened region, the individual contribution of these two factors to the improved mechanical properties remains unclear. Numerical simulations are carried out in order to answer this question. It is found that work hardening predominates in improving the yield strength and the ultimate tensile strength of the surface nano-crystallized graded materials, while the influence of the residual stress mainly emerges at the initial stage of deformation and decreases the apparent elastic modulus of the surface nano-crystallized graded materials, which agrees well with the experimental results. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A modified criterion for shear band formation in bulk metallic glass under complex stress states

A new criterion for shear band formation in metallic glasses is proposed based on the shear plane criterion proposed by Packard and Schuh [1]. This modified shear plane (MSP) criterion suggests that a shear band is not initiated randomly throughout the entire material under stress but is initiated at the physical boundaries or defects and at locations where the highest normal stress modified maximum shear stress occurs. Moreover, the same as in the shear plan criterion, the shear stress all over the shear band should exceed the shear yield strength of the material. For a complete shear band to form, both requirements need to be fulfilled. The shear yield strength of the material is represented by the shear stress of the point at which the shear band stops. The new criterion agrees very well with experimental results in both the determination of the shear yield strength and the shear band path. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

First principles based predictions of the toughness of a metal/oxide interface

We describe a first-principles-based strategy to predict the macroscopic toughness of a gamma-Ni(Al)/alpha-Al2O3 interface. Density functional theory calculations are used to ascertain energy changes upon displacing the two materials adjacent to the interface, with relaxation conducted over all atoms located within adjoining rows. Traction/displacernent curves are obtained from derivatives of the energy. Calculations are performed in mode I (opening), mode II (shear) and at a phase angle of 45 degrees. The shear calculations are conducted for displacements along < 110 > and < 112 > of the Ni lattice. A generalized interface potential function is used to characterize the results. Initial fitting to both the shear and normal stress results is required to calibrate the unknowns. Thereafter, consistency is established by using the potential to predict other traction quantities. The potential is incorporated as a traction/displacement function within a cohesive zone model and used to predict the steady-state toughness of the interface. For this purpose, the plasticity of the Ni alloy must be known, including the plasticity length scale. Measurements obtained for a gamma-Ni superalloy are used and the toughness predicted over the full range of mode mixity. Additional results for a range of alloys are used to demonstrate the influences of yield strength and length scale.

First principles based predictions of the toughness of a metal/oxide interface

We describe a first-principles-based strategy to predict the macroscopic toughness of a gamma-Ni(Al)/alpha-Al2O3 interface. Density functional theory calculations are used to ascertain energy changes upon displacing the two materials adjacent to the interface, with relaxation conducted over all atoms located within adjoining rows. Traction/displacernent curves are obtained from derivatives of the energy. Calculations are performed in mode I (opening), mode II (shear) and at a phase angle of 45 degrees. The shear calculations are conducted for displacements along < 110 > and < 112 > of the Ni lattice. A generalized interface potential function is used to characterize the results. Initial fitting to both the shear and normal stress results is required to calibrate the unknowns. Thereafter, consistency is established by using the potential to predict other traction quantities. The potential is incorporated as a traction/displacement function within a cohesive zone model and used to predict the steady-state toughness of the interface. For this purpose, the plasticity of the Ni alloy must be known, including the plasticity length scale. Measurements obtained for a gamma-Ni superalloy are used and the toughness predicted over the full range of mode mixity. Additional results for a range of alloys are used to demonstrate the influences of yield strength and length scale.

Microstructure and mechanical property of Mg-8.31Gd-1.12Dy-0.38Zr alloy

The Mg-8.31Gd-1.12Dy-0.38Zr (mass%) alloy was prepared by casting technology, and the microstructure, age hardening behavior and mechanical property have been investigated. It is noted that the alpha-Mg and the different Mg-RE (RE = Gd/Dy) compounds are subsistent in the as-cast and annealed state samples. The age hardening behavior is observed during the investigated temperature range, and the alloy exhibits high Vickers hardness, excellent ultimate tensile strength and yield strength at peak hardness.