Effect of cooperative nanograin boundary sliding and migration on dislocation emission from a blunt nanocrack tip in nanocrystalline materials

Abstract

Theoretical model is suggested that describes the effects of the cooperative nanograin boundary sliding and stress-driven nanograin boundary migration (CNGBSM) process on the lattice dislocation emission from an elliptically blunt nanocrack tip in deformed nanocrystalline materials. Within the model, CNGBSM deformation near the tip of growing nanocrack carries plastic flow, produces two dipoles of disclination defects and creates high local stresses in nanocrystalline materials. By using the complex variable method, the complex form expression of dislocation force is derived, and critical stress intensity factors for the first lattice dislocation emission are obtained under mode I and mode II loading conditions, respectively. The combined effects of the geometric features and strengths of CNGBSM deformation, nanocrack blunting and length on critical SIFs for dislocation emission depend upon nanograin size and material parameters in a typical situation where nanocrack blunting and growth processes are controlled by dislocation emission from nanocrack tips. It is theoretically shown that the cooperative CNGBSM deformation and nanocrack blunting have great influence on dislocation emission from blunt nanocrack tip.

Keywords:

• nanocrystalline materials
• the cooperative nanograin boundary sliding and stress-driven migration
• nanocrack blunting
• dislocation emission
• critical stress intensity factors

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to deeply appreciate the support from the NNSFC (11172094 and 11172095) and the NCET-11-0122. This work was also supported by Hunan Provincial Natural Science Foundation for Creative Research Groups of China [Grant No. 12JJ7001].