Nanoscale ductile fracture and associated atomistic mechanisms in a body-centered cubic refractory metal.

ABSTRACT: Understanding the competing modes of brittle versus ductile fracture is critical for preventing the failure of body-centered cubic (BCC) refractory metals. Despite decades of intensive investigations, the nanoscale fracture processes and associated atomistic mechanisms in BCC metals remain elusive due to insufficient atomic-scale experimental evidence. Here, we perform in situ atomic-resolution observations of nanoscale fracture in single crystals of BCC Mo. The crack growth process involves the nucleation, motion, and interaction of dislocations on multiple 1/2 < 111 > {110} slip systems at the crack tip. These dislocation activities give rise to an alternating sequence of crack-tip plastic shearing, resulting in crack blunting, and local separation normal to the crack plane, leading to c

SUBMITTER: Lu Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10491606 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature