Onset of Adiabatic Shear Instability in Strain Gradient Dependent Metal Matrix Composites

In this paper, effect of strain gradient on adiabatic shear instability in particle reinforced metal matrix composites is investigated by making use of the strain gradient dependent constitutive equation developed by Dai et al. [9] and the linear perturbation analysis presented by Bai [10]. The results have shown that the onset of adiabatic shear instability in metal matrix composites reinforced with small particles is more prone to occur than in the composites reinforced with large particles. This means that the strain gradient provides a strong deriving force for onset of adiabatic shear instability in metal matrix composites.

Mode I crack tip field with strain gradient effects

A plane strain mode I crack tip field with strain gradient effects is investigated. A new strain gradient theory is used. An elastic-power law hardening strain gradient material is considered and two hardening laws, i.e. a separation law and an integration Law are used respectively. As for the material with the separation law hardening, the angular distributions of stresses are consistent with the HRR field, which differs from the stress results([19]); the angular distributions of couple stresses are the same as the couple stress results([19]). For the material with the integration law hardening, the stress field and the couple stress field can not exist simultaneously, which is the same as the conclusion([19]), but for the stress dominated field, the angular distributions of stresses are consistent with the HRR field; for the couple stress dominated field, the angular distributions of couple stresses are consistent with those in Ref. [19]. However, the increase in stresses is not observed in strain gradient plasticity because the present theory is based on the rotation gradient of the deformation only, while the crack tip field of mode I is dominated by the tension gradient, which will be shown in another paper.

The Influence of Strain Gradient on the shear Band in a Saturated Soil

The dynamic localization of saturated soil is investigated by considering the influence of higher strain gradient. It is shown that the strain gradient has a significant influence on the evolution of shear band in saturated soil and that the width of shear band is proportional to the square root of the strain gradient softening coefficient. The numerical simulation is processed to investigate the influences of shear strain gradient and other factors on the evolution of shear band.

Strain-Induced Grain Refinement of Cobalt During Surface Mechanical Attrition Treatment

The microstructural evolution during surface mechanical attrition treatment of cobalt (a mixture of hexagonal close packed (hep) and face-centered cubic (fcc) phases) was investigated. In order to reveal the mechanism of grain refinement and strain accommodation. The microstructure was systematically characterized by both cross-sectional and planar-view transmission electron microscopy. In the hcp phase, the process of grain refinement. Accompanied by an increase in strain imposed in the surface layer. Involved: (1) the onset of 110 111 deformation twinning, (2) the operation of (1 120) 110 1 0} prismatic and (1 120) (000 1) basal slip, leading to the formation of low-angle dislocation boundaries, and (3) the successive subdivision of grains to a finer and finer scale. Ressulting in the formation of highly misoriented nanocrystalline grains. Moreover. The formation of nanocrystalliies at the grain boundary and triple junction was also observed to occur concurrently with straining. By contrast. The fec phase accommodated strain in a sequence as follows: (1) slip of dislocations by forming intersecting planar arrays of dislocations, (2) {1 1 1} deformation twinning, and (3) the gamma(fcc) --> epsilon(hcp) martensitic phase transformation. The mechanism of grain refinement was interpreted in terms of the structural subdivision of grains together with dynamic recrystallization occurring in the hep phase and the gamma --> E: martensitic transformation in the fcc phase as well.

Dynamic recrystallization induced by plastic deformation at high strain rate in a Monel alloy

An investigation has been made into the plastic deformation behavior of a Monel alloy deformed at high strain rate of 10(5) s(-1) by split Hopkinson bar. The results reveal that there are some equiaxed grains with an average size of 150 nm in diameter in the center of the shear bands, suggesting that this microstructure characteristics be developed by dynamic recrystallization, arising from the deformation and the rapid temperature rise in the band. Analysis shows that the plastic strain rate and the mobile dislocation density play a key role in the new crystallized grain formation and growth. Based on grain boundary energy change and diffusion mechanism, the grain growth kinetics is developed for plastic deformation at a high strain rate.

Steady-state crack growth and fracture work based on the theory of mechanism-based strain gradient plasticity

Mode I steady-state crack growth is analyzed under plane strain conditions in small scale yielding. The elastic-plastic solid is characterized by the mechanism-based strain gradient (MSG) plasticity theory [J. Mech. Phys. Solids 47 (1999) 1239, J. Mech. Phys. Solids 48 (2000) 99]. The distributions of the normal separation stress and the effective stress along the plane ahead of the crack tip are computed using a special finite element method based on the steady-state fundamental relations and the MSG flow theory. The results show that during the steady-state crack growth, the normal separation stress on the plane ahead of the crack tip can achieve considerably high value within the MSG strain gradient sensitive zone. The results also show that the crack tip fields are insensitive to the cell size parameter in the MSG theory. Moreover, in the present research, the steady-state fracture toughness is computed by adopting the embedded process zone (EPZ) model. The results display that the steady-state fracture toughness strongly depends on the separation strength parameter of the EPZ model and the length scale parameter in the MSG theory. Furthermore, in order for the results of steady crack growth to be comparable, an approximate relation between the length scale parameters in the MSG theory and in the Fleck-Hutchinson strain gradient plasticity theory is obtained.

Molecular Dynamics Study Of The Mechanical Behavior Of Nickel Nanowire: Strain Rate Effects

We present the analysis of uniaxial deformation of nickel nanowires using molecular dynamics simulations, and address the strain rate effects on mechanical responses and deformation behavior. The applied strain rate is ranging from 1 x 10(8) s(-1) to 1.4 x 10(11) s(-1). The results show that two critical strain rates, i.e., 5 x 10(9) s(-1) and 8 x 10(10) s(-1), are observed to play a pivotal role in switching between plastic deformation modes. At strain rate below 5 x 10(9) s(-1), Ni nanowire maintains its crystalline structure with neck occurring at the end of loading, and the plastic deformation is characterized by {111} slippages associated with Shockley partial dislocations and rearrangements of atoms close to necking region. At strain rate above 8x10(10) s(-1), Ni nanowire transforms from a fcc crystal into a completely amorphous state once beyond the yield point, and hereafter it deforms uniformly without obvious necking until the end of simulation. For strain rate between 5 x 10(9) s(-1) and 8 x 10(10) s(-1), only part of the nanowire exhibits amorphous state after yielding while the other part remains crystalline state. Both the {111} slippages in ordered region and homogenous deformation in amorphous region contribute to the plastic deformation. (C) 2007 Published by Elsevier B.V.

New Deformation Twinning Mechanism Generates Zero Macroscopic Strain In Nanocrystalline Metals

Macroscopic strain was hitherto considered a necessary corollary of deformation twinning in coarse-grained metals. Recently, twinning has been found to be a preeminent deformation mechanism in nanocrystalline face-centered-cubic (fcc) metals with medium-to-high stacking fault energies. Here we report a surprising discovery that the vast majority of deformation twins in nanocrystalline Al, Ni, and Cu, contrary to popular belief, yield zero net macroscopic strain. We propose a new twinning mechanism, random activation of partials, to explain this unusual phenomenon. The random activation of partials mechanism appears to be the most plausible mechanism and may be unique to nanocrystalline fcc metals with implications for their deformation behavior and mechanical properties.