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Dynamic transitions from smooth to rough to twinning in dislocation motion

Nature Materials volume 3, pages 158–163 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

The motion of dislocations in response to stress dictates the mechanical behaviour of materials. However, it is not yet possible to directly observe dislocation motion experimentally at the atomic level. Here, we present the first observations of the long-hypothesized kink-pair mechanism in action using atomistic simulations of dislocation motion in iron. In a striking deviation from the classical picture, dislocation motion at high strain rates becomes rough, resulting in spontaneous self-pinning and production of large quantities of debris. Then, at still higher strain rates, the dislocation stops abruptly and emits a twin plate that immediately takes over as the dominant mode of plastic deformation. These observations challenge the applicability of the Peierls threshold concept to the three-dimensional motion of screw dislocations at high strain rates, and suggest a new interpretation of plastic strength and microstructure of shocked metals.

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Figure 1: A dislocation made of disorder.
Figure 2: Simulation setup and results.
Figure 3: The kink-pair mechanism of smooth dislocation motion at 300 K and τyz = 500 MPa.
Figure 4: Rough motion and debris production.
Figure 5: Cross-kink mechanism of self-pinning and debris production.
Figure 6: Twinning initiation by dislocation.

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Acknowledgements

This work was performed under the auspices of the US Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract W-7405-Eng-48.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chemistry and Materials Science Directorate, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, 94551, California, USA

    Jaime Marian, Wei Cai & Vasily V. Bulatov

  2. Graduate Aeronautical Laboratories, California Institute of Technology, 1200 E. California Boulevard, Pasadena, 91125, California, USA

    Jaime Marian

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  1. Jaime Marian
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Correspondence to Jaime Marian.

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Marian, J., Cai, W. & Bulatov, V. Dynamic transitions from smooth to rough to twinning in dislocation motion. Nature Mater 3, 158–163 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat1072

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