Mechanism of Climb in Dislocation-Nanovoid Interaction

TL;DR

This study uses atomistic simulations to explore how edge dislocations climb at nanovoids, revealing a novel mechanism involving surface energy release and dislocation curvature, distinct from traditional diffusion-based models.

Contribution

It introduces a new simulation approach to analyze nanovoid-induced dislocation climb and uncovers the role of surface energy and curvature in this process.

Findings

Dislocation climb at nanovoids involves surface energy release.

Dislocation curvature influences the climb mechanism.

Void-induced climb differs from diffusion-mediated climb.

Abstract

We employ the methods of atomistic simulation to investigate the climb of edge dislocation at nanovoids by analyzing the energetics of the underlying mechanism. A novel simulation strategy has been demonstrated to estimate the release of surface energy of the nanovoid during the void induced climb. The curvature of the pinned dislocation segment is found to play a key role in mediating this unique mechanism of dislocation climb. Our study reveals that the kinetics of void-induced climb process is fundamentally distinct from the conventional diffusion-mediated climb.