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With decreasing system sizes, the mechanical properties and dominant deformation mechanisms of metals change. For larger scales, bulk behavior is observed that is characterized by a preservation and significant increase of dislocation content during deformation whereas at the submicron scale very localized dislocation activity as well as dislocation starvation is observed. In the transition regime it is not clear how the dislocation content is built up. This dislocation storage regime and its underlying physical mechanisms are still an open field of research. In this paper, the microstructure evolution of single crystalline copper micropillars with a 〈1 1 0〉 crystal orientation and varying sizes between 1 and 10 µm is analysed under compression loading. Experimental in situ HR-EBSD measurements as well as 3d continuum dislocation dynamics simulations are presented. The experimental results provide insights into the material deformation and evolution of dislocation structures during continuous loading. This is complemented by the simulation of the dislocation density evolution considering dislocation dynamics, interactions, and reactions of the individual slip systems providing direct access to these quantities. Results are presented that show, how the plastic deformation of the material takes place and how the different slip systems are involved. A central finding is, that an increasing amount of GND density is stored in the system during loading that is located dominantly on the slip systems that are not mainly responsible for the production of plastic slip. This might be a characteristic feature of the considered size regime that has direct impact on further dislocation network formation and the corresponding contribution to plastic hardening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zircaloy-4 (Zr-1.5%Sn-0.2%Fe-0.1%Cr wt%) is used as nuclear fuel cladding materials and hydride embrittlement is a major failure mechanism. To explore the effect of δ-hydride on plastic deformation and performance of Zircaloy-4, in situ high angular resolution electron backscatter diffraction (HR-EBSD) was used to quantify stress and geometrically necessary dislocation (GND) density during bending tests of hydride-free and hydride-containing single crystal Zircaloy-4 microcantilevers. Results suggest that while the stress applied was accommodated by plastic slip in the hydride-free cantilever, the hydride-containing cantilever showed precipitation-induced GND pile-up at hydride-matrix interface pre-deformation, and considerable locally-increasing GND density under tensile stress upon plastic deformation. Unlabelled Image [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Slow strain rate tests on hydrogen-containing specimens of PH13–8Mo maraging stainless steel showed H-assisted subcritical quasi-cleavage cracking, accelerating material failure. Fractographic analysis revealed that quasi-cleavage is composed of flat brittle areas and rougher areas. Electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) was performed on a secondary subcritically grown crack. High resolution EBSD showed significant crystal lattice rotation, hence consequential plastic deformation, concentrated between the main crack tip and the cracks located ahead of it. Quasi-cleavage consisted of {100} cleavage cracks connected by ductile ridges, suggesting a discontinuous mechanism, involving re-initiation of new cleavage cracks ahead the main crack tip. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In single crystals, plastic deformations are predominantly governed by dislocation movement and interactions. The group of dislocations that creates strain gradients, known as geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs), also deterministically contributes to strain hardening, micron-scale size effects, fatigue, and Bauschinger effect. During bending large strain gradients naturally emerge which makes this deformation mode exceptionally suitable to study the evolution of GNDs. Here we present bi-directional bending experiment of a Cu single crystalline microcantilever with in situ characterisation of the dislocation microstructure in terms of high-resolution electron backscatter diffraction (HR-EBSD). The experiments are complemented with dislocation density modelling to provide physical understanding of the collective dislocation phenomena. We find that dislocation pile-ups form around the neutral zone during initial bending, however, these do not dissolve upon reversed loading, rather they contribute to the development of a much more complex GND dominated microstructure. This irreversible process is analysed in detail in terms of the involved Burgers vectors and slip systems. We conclude that at this scale the most dominant role in the Bauschinger effect and corresponding strain hardening is played by short-range dislocation interactions. The in-depth understanding of these phenomena will aid the design of microscopic metallic components with increased performance and reliability. • Cyclic bending of a copper single crystalline microcantilever revealed a non-reversible evolution of dislocation structures. • Microstructures obtained by high-resolution EBSD measurements are recovered by continuum dislocation density simulations. • TEM confirmed that the dislocation pile-ups formed during the initial bending do not dissolve upon reserved loading. • Upon cyclic loading a rather complex dislocation microstructure develops that changes its polarisation in every cycle. • The strong strain hardening and the Bauschinger-effect was mainly caused by the short-range dislocation interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]