Atomistic fundamentals of plasticity at interfaces in lightweight complex alloys and transfer to continuum models – ATOUUM

Lightweights metallic materials with outstanding mechanical properties are of uttermost importance for the scientific and environmental challenges ahead. Such alloys commonly exhibit complex microstructures responsible for their peculiar mechanical behavior. The long-standing research question of the plastic deformation of materials and components is intrinsically related to the propagation of slip across interfaces such as grain boundaries or phase boundaries. Despite intense work, mechanisms of slip transfer remain to date fundamentally unclear. The primary objective of this project is to reveal the discrete features at the atomic scale associated with slip transfer in a representative selection of alloys, by using state-of-the-art atomistic simulations. This project will then identify and assess key parameters that can be transferred from our discrete approach to continuum models capable of considering dislocation-interface interactions at larger scale.