The mean free path of dislocations in nanoparticle and nanorod reinforced metal composites and implication for strengthening mechanisms

Guoxin CAO, Xi CHEN*, Jeffrey W. KYSAR, Dongyun LEE, Yong X. GAN

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal PublicationsJournal Article (refereed)peer-review

19 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The mean free path length of dislocations plays an important role in the plastic behavior of metals, which may be significantly enhanced by the addition of nanoparticles. The effects of particle distribution pattern, particle size, shape and volume fraction on the dislocation mean free path length and average obstacle distance are analyzed in two- and three-dimensional models. As the particle volume fraction increases, the dislocation mean free path length and average distance between dislocations obstacles can be significantly reduced, implying enhancement of strength. The random particle distribution exhibits the best combination of dislocation mean free path length and average obstacle distance. In addition, both dislocation mean free path and average obstacle distance can be significantly reduced by changing the particle shape from nanosphere to nanorod. The present analysis may provide useful information for designing the particle enforced composite materials. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)275-282
Number of pages8
JournalMechanics Research Communications
Volume34
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2007
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

We acknowledge support by the Academic Quality Fund from Columbia University, and a MRSEC Seed Grant from Columbia MRSEC NSF No. DMR-0213574, and also from NSF-CMS-0134226 and NSF-CMS-0407743.

Keywords

  • Composite
  • Nanoparticle
  • Nanorod

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