Direct Characterization of the Relation between the Mechanical Response and Microstructure Evolution in Aluminum by Transmission Electron Microscopy In Situ Straining

Abstract

Transmission electron microscopy in situ straining experiments of Al single crystals with different initial lattice defect densities have been performed. The as-focused ion beam (FIB)-processed pillar sample contained a high density of prismatic dislocation loops with the <111> Burgers vector, while the post-annealed specimen had an almost defect-free microstructure. In both specimens, plastic deformation occurred with repetitive stress drops (∆σ). The stress drops were accompanied by certain dislocation motions, suggesting the dislocation avalanche phenomenon. ∆σ for the as-FIB Al pillar sample was smaller than that for the post-annealed Al sample. This can be considered to be because of the interaction of gliding dislocations with immobile prismatic dislocation loops introduced by the FIB. The reloading process after stress reduction was dominated by elastic behavior because the slope of the load–displacement curve for reloading was close to the Young’s modulus of Al. Microplasticity was observed during the load-recovery process, suggesting that microyielding and a dislocation avalanche repeatedly occurred, leading to intermittent plasticity as an elementary step of macroplastic deformation.

Quantitative Characterization by Transmission Electron Microscopy and Its Application to Interfacial Phenomena in Crystalline Materials

“…Moreover, in situ TEM (and SEM) straining experiments are powerful tools for understanding the microstructure evolution of small-scale specimens under the stress field. These have received considerable attention for deformation in the grain interior [144][145][146][147][148][149][150][151][152][153][154][155][156][157][158][159], deformation [160][161][162][163][164][165][166][167][168][169][170][171][172][173][174], and fracture [175][176][177][178] around grain boundaries. Among them, some specimen holders can explore the simultaneous mechanical behavior during the microstructure evolution [146,147,[150][151][152]154,156,157,[159][160][161][16...…”

“…The S-S curve exhibits an apparent yield phenomenon around the crossing point of the two dashed lines drawn in the S-S curve, and after yielding, a small stress drop is frequently detected. This phenomenon is known as intermittent plasticity [156,179]. Figure 11 shows snapshots captured in the movie during in situ straining for the Σ3 bicrystal pillar.…”