Dislocation-density evolution and pileups in bicrystalline systems

A dislocation-density crystalline plasticity (DCP) framework based on total and partial dislocation densities interactions was used to investigate the behavior of Cu/ Pb bicrystals with a focus on GB effects. The modeling predictions were validated with bicrystal compression micropillar experiments. A key new aspect of the modeling approach is to account for partial dislocation-densities. A GB formulation that is directly linked to GB energies was used to monitor GB transmission and blockages, such that pileups can be monitored and predicted at the GB interfaces for misorientations. The predictions indicate that pileups can form due to fully and partially blocked slip-rates and perfect and partial dislocation-densities. As the nominal strain increases from five to fifteen percent, dislocation-densities and pileups significantly increase by almost an order of magnitude. The proposed validated approach provides a microstructural scale predictive framework that accounts for a myriad of defects related to the interactions of partial and perfect dislocation densities that interact at highly misoriented GBs; it is these interactions that are critical to the formation and evolution of dislocation-density pileups that can lead to physically limiting stress accumulations in bicrystals.

Automated summary

A dislocation-density crystalline plasticity (DCP) framework was used to study the behavior of Cu/Pb bicrystals with a focus on grain boundary (GB) effects. The model predictions were validated with bicrystal compression micropillar experiments. The key aspect of the modeling approach is the consideration of partial dislocation densities and a GB formulation linked to GB energies.