Abstract
Plastic deformation in face-centred cubic (or ‘FCC’) metals involves multi-scale phenomena which are initiated at atomic length and time scales (on order of 1.0e-15 seconds). Understanding the fundamental thresholds for plasticity at atomic and nano/meso scales requires rigorous testing, which cannot be feasibly achieved with current experimental methods. Hence, computer simulation-based investigations are extremely valuable. However, meso-scale simulations cannot yet accommodate atomically-informed grain boundary (or ‘GB’) effects and dislocation interactions. This study will provide a stress - strain analysis based on molecular dynamics simulations of a series of metastable grain boundaries with identical crystal orientations but unique grain boundary characteristics. Relationships between dislocation slip systems, resolved shear stresses and additional thermo-mechanical conditions of the system will be considered in the analysis of dislocation-grain boundary interactions, including GB penetration. This study will form the basis of new phenomenological relationships in an effort to enable accommodation of grain boundaries into meso scale dislocation dynamic simulations.