A Model of Enhanced Strain Rate Sensitivity in Nanocrystalline and Ultrafine-Grained Metals

A model is suggested that describes enhanced strain rate sensitivity of nanocrystalline and ultrafine-grained metals. Within the model, plastic deformation of such metals incorporates dislocation transmission across grain boundaries (GBs) in the stress fields of dislocation pileups, the emission of individual dislocations from GBs as well as GB sliding accommodated by GB dislocation climb and/or Coble creep. The model predicts a strong increase in the strain rate sensitivity and a decrease in the activation volume with decreasing grain size, in accord with experimental data.We also considered the effect of GB sliding and Coble creep on the anomalous dependence of the activation volume on temperature observed in nanocrystalline Ni. It is demonstrated that although an account for GB sliding and Coble creep leads to the appearance of cusps in the temperature dependence of the activation volume, these mechanisms alone cannot be responsible for the observed anomalous dependence of the activation volume on temperature.