Intermittent dislocation flow in viscoplastic deformation

The viscoplastic deformation (creep) of crystalline materials under constant stress involves the motion of a large number of interacting dislocations. Analytical methods and sophisticated `dislocation-dynamics' simulations have proved very effective in the study of dislocation patterning, and have led to macroscopic constitutive laws of plastic deformation. Yet, a statistical analysis of the dynamics of an assembly of interacting dislocations has not hitherto been performed. Here we report acoustic emission measurements on stressed ice single crystals, the results of which indicate that dislocations move in a scale-free intermittent fashion. This result is confirmed by numerical simulations of a model of interacting dislocations that successfully reproduces the main features of the experiment. We find that dislocations generate a slowly evolving configuration landscape which coexists with rapid collective rearrangements. These rearrangements involve a comparatively small fraction of the dislocations and lead to an intermittent behavior of the net plastic response. This basic dynamical picture appears to be a generic feature in the deformation of many other materials. Moreover, it should provide a framework for discussing fundamental aspects of plasticity, that goes beyond standard mean-field approaches that see plastic deformation as a smooth laminar flow

Stable Determination of the Electromagnetic Coefficients by Boundary Measurements

The goal of this paper is to prove a stable determination of the coefficients for the time-harmonic Maxwell equations, in a Lipschitz domain, by boundary measurements

Change of Scaling and Appearance of Scale-Free Size Distribution in Aggregation Kinetics by Additive Rules

The idealized general model of aggregate growth is considered on the basis of the simple additive rules that correspond to one-step aggregation process. The two idealized cases were analytically investigated and simulated by Monte Carlo method in the Desktop Grid distributed computing environment to analyze "pile-up" and "wall" cluster distributions in different aggregation scenarios. Several aspects of aggregation kinetics (change of scaling, change of size distribution type, and appearance of scale-free size distribution) driven by "zero cluster size" boundary condition were determined by analysis of evolving cumulative distribution functions. The "pile-up" case with a \textit{minimum} active surface (singularity) could imitate piling up aggregations of dislocations, and the case with a \textit{maximum} active surface could imitate arrangements of dislocations in walls. The change of scaling law (for pile-ups and walls) and availability of scale-free distributions (for walls) were analytically shown and confirmed by scaling, fitting, moment, and bootstrapping analyses of simulated probability density and cumulative distribution functions. The initial "singular" \textit{symmetric} distribution of pile-ups evolves by the "infinite" diffusive scaling law and later it is replaced by the other "semi-infinite" diffusive scaling law with \textit{asymmetric} distribution of pile-ups. In contrast, the initial "singular" \textit{symmetric} distributions of walls initially evolve by the diffusive scaling law and later it is replaced by the other ballistic (linear) scaling law with \textit{scale-free} exponential distributions without distinctive peaks. The conclusion was made as to possible applications of such approach for scaling, fitting, moment, and bootstrapping analyses of distributions in simulated and experimental data.Comment: 37 pages, 16 figures, 1 table; accepted preprint version after comments of reviewers, Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications (2014

Critical Dynamics of Burst Instabilities in the Portevin-Le Chatelier Effect

We investigate the Portevin-Le Chatelier effect (PLC), by compressing Al-Mg alloys in a very large deformation range, and interpret the results from the viewpoint of phase transitions and critical phenomena. The system undergoes two dynamical phase transitions between intermittent (or "jerky") and "laminar" plastic dynamic phases. Near these two dynamic critical points, the order parameter 1/\tau of the PLC effect exhibits large fluctuations, and "critical slowing down" (i.e., the number $\tau$ of bursts, or plastic instabilities, per unit time slows down considerably).Comment: the published 4-page version is in the PRL web sit

Mechanisms for slow strengthening in granular materials

Several mechanisms cause a granular material to strengthen over time at low applied stress. The strength is determined from the maximum frictional force F_max experienced by a shearing plate in contact with wet or dry granular material after the layer has been at rest for a waiting time \tau. The layer strength increases roughly logarithmically with \tau -only- if a shear stress is applied during the waiting time. The mechanisms of strengthening are investigated by sensitive displacement measurements and by imaging of particle motion in the shear zone. Granular matter can strengthen due to a slow shift in the particle arrangement under shear stress. Humidity also leads to strengthening, but is found not to be its sole cause. In addition to these time dependent effects, the static friction coefficient can also be increased by compaction of the granular material under some circumstances, and by cycling of the applied shear stress.Comment: 21 pages, 11 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Orientation and stability of a bi-functional aromatic organic molecular adsorbate on silicon

In this work we combine scanning tunneling microscopy, near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy, X-ray photoemission spectroscopy and density functional theory to resolve a long-standing confusion regarding the adsorption behaviour of benzonitrile on Si(001) at room temperature. We find that a trough-bridging structure is sufficient to explain adsorption at low coverages. At higher coverages when steric hindrance prevents the phenyl ring lying flat on the surface, the 2+2 cycloaddition structure dominates

Self-Association of Organic Solutes in Solution: A NEXAFS Study of Aqueous Imidazole

N K-edge near-edge X-ray absorption fine-structure (NEXAFS) spectra of imidazole in concentrated aqueous solutions have been acquired. The NEXAFS spectra of the solution species differ significantly from those of imidazole monomers in the gas phase and in the solid state of imidazole, demonstrating the strong sensitivity of NEXAFS to the local chemical and structural environment. In a concentration range from 0.5 to 8.2 mol L−1 the NEXAFS spectrum of aqueous imidazole does not change strongly, confirming previous suggestions that imidazole self-associates are already present at concentrations more dilute than the range investigated here. We show that various types of electronic structure calculations (Gaussian, StoBe, CASTEP) provide a consistent and complete interpretation of all features in the gas phase and solid state spectra based on ground state electronic structure. This suggests that such computational modelling of experimental NEXAFS will permit an incisive analysis of the molecular interactions of organic solutes in solutions. It is confirmed that microhydrated clusters with a single imidazole molecule are poor models of imidazole in aqueous solution. Our analysis indicates that models including both a hydrogen-bonded network of hydrate molecules, and imidazole–imidazole interactions, are necessary to explain the electronic structure evident in the NEXAFS spectra

Combining SPR with atomic-force microscopy enables single-molecule insights into activation and suppression of the complement cascade

This work was supported by Leverhulme Trust Grant RPG-2015-109.Activation and suppression of the complement system compete on every serum-exposed surface, host or foreign. Potentially harmful outcomes of this competition depend on surface molecules through mechanisms that remain incompletely understood. Combining surface plasmon resonance (SPR) with atomic force microscopy (AFM), here we studied two complement system proteins at the single-molecule level: C3b, the proteolytically activated form of C3, and factor H (FH), the surface-sensing C3b-binding complement regulator. We used SPR to monitor complement initiation occurring through a positive-feedback loop wherein surface-deposited C3b participates in convertases that cleave C3, thereby depositing more C3b. Over multiple cycles of flowing factor B, factor D, and C3 over the SPR chip, we amplified C3b from ∼20 to ∼220 molecules·μm−2. AFM revealed C3b clusters of up to 20 molecules and solitary C3b molecules deposited up to 200 nm away from the clusters. A force of 0.17 ± 0.02 nanonewtons was needed to pull a single FH molecule, anchored to the AFM probe, from its complex with surface-attached C3b. The extent to which FH molecules stretched before detachment varied widely among complexes. Performing force-distance measurements with FH(D1119G), a variant lacking one of the C3b-binding sites and causing atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome, we found that it detached more uniformly and easily. In further SPR experiments, KD values between FH and C3b on a custom-made chip surface were 5-fold tighter than on commercial chips and similar to those on erythrocytes. These results suggest that the chemistry at the surface on which FH acts drives conformational adjustments that are functionally critical.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Multiscale modelling for fusion and fission materials: the M4F project

The M4F project brings together the fusion and fission materials communities working on the prediction of radiation damage production and evolution and its effects on the mechanical behaviour of irradiated ferritic/martensitic (F/M) steels. It is a multidisciplinary project in which several different experimental and computational materials science tools are integrated to understand and model the complex phenomena associated with the formation and evolution of irradiation induced defects and their effects on the macroscopic behaviour of the target materials. In particular the project focuses on two specific aspects: (1) To develop physical understanding and predictive models of the origin and consequences of localised deformation under irradiation in F/M steels; (2) To develop good practices and possibly advance towards the definition of protocols for the use of ion irradiation as a tool to evaluate radiation effects on materials. Nineteen modelling codes across different scales are being used and developed and an experimental validation programme based on the examination of materials irradiated with neutrons and ions is being carried out. The project enters now its 4th year and is close to delivering high-quality results. This paper overviews the work performed so far within the project, highlighting its impact for fission and fusion materials science.This work has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-2018 under grant agreement No. 755039 (M4F project)

Dislocation multi-junctions and strain hardening

At the microscopic scale, the strength of a crystal derives from the motion, multiplication and interaction of distinctive line defects--dislocations. First theorized in 1934 to explain low magnitudes of crystal strength observed experimentally, the existence of dislocations was confirmed only two decades later. Much of the research in dislocation physics has since focused on dislocation interactions and their role in strain hardening: a common phenomenon in which continued deformation increases a crystal's strength. The existing theory relates strain hardening to pair-wise dislocation reactions in which two intersecting dislocations form junctions tying dislocations together. Here we report that interactions among three dislocations result in the formation of unusual elements of dislocation network topology, termed hereafter multi-junctions. The existence of multi-junctions is first predicted by Dislocation Dynamics (DD) and atomistic simulations and then confirmed by the transmission electron microscopy (TEM) experiments in single crystal molybdenum. In large-scale Dislocation Dynamics simulations, multi-junctions present very strong, nearly indestructible, obstacles to dislocation motion and furnish new sources for dislocation multiplication thereby playing an essential role in the evolution of dislocation microstructure and strength of deforming crystals. Simulation analyses conclude that multi-junctions are responsible for the strong orientation dependence of strain hardening in BCC crystals