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Dislocation dynamics

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An intricate network of dislocation lines in tantalum under compression (journal cover).
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Stress-strain response from the simulations.

Work by Luis Zepeda-Ruiz, Tomas Oppelstrup, and Vasily Bulatov (LLNL) and Alex Stukowski (TU Darmstadt) on dislocation dynamics in bcc tantalum. Fully dynamic atomic-level simulations of metal plasticity with up to 268 million atoms probe how tantalum responds to ultrahigh-strain-rate deformation, finding that beyond critical conditions twinning takes over from dislocation glide.

Related publications

  • Probing the limits of metal plasticity with molecular dynamics simulations, L. A. Zepeda-Ruiz, A. Stukowski, T. Oppelstrup, and V. V. Bulatov, Nature 550, 492 (2017). doi:10.1038/nature23472