Based on the analysis of the crack trapping effect of cleavage ridges and penetration of crack front segments in an iron–silicon alloy, the distance between break-through points along a high-angle grain boundary is investigated. If the break-through points are close to each other, the crack trapping effect is dominant; otherwise, the grain boundary separation in break-through windows governs th...

Needle-shaped atom probe specimens containing a single grain boundary were produced using the focused ion beam (FIB) of a two-beam FIB/SEM (scanning electron microscope) system. The presented specimen preparation approach allows the unprecedented study of a grain boundary which is well characterised in its crystallographic orientation by means of the field ion microscope (FIM) and the tomograph...

The grain boundary plane distributions in MgO, SrTiO3, MgAl2O4, and Al are compared at lattice misorientations with a coincident site density of greater than or equal to 1/9. In most situations, the most frequently adopted grain boundary orientation is a habit plane of low index and low surface energy that depends on the particular material. Cases where the most common boundary orientation is a...

Grain boundaries affect the migration of atoms and electrons in polycrystalline solids, thus influencing many of the mechanical and electrical properties. By introducing nanometer-scale twin defects into copper grains, we show that we can change the grain-boundary structure and atomic-diffusion behavior along the boundary. Using in situ ultrahigh-vacuum and high-resolution transmission electron...

-The effect of grain boundary regions on the total amount diffused during an exchange experiment has been numerically modeled. The total amount diffused increases when the grain size is decreased, and when the ratio of the grain boundary and lattice diffusion coefficients increases. Grain boundary migration increases the total amount diffused during part of the processing time. The numerical ca...

Garnet-like oxides having the formula Li7+X−YLa3−XAXZr2−YNbYO12 (A = Sr or Ca) were synthesized using a solid-state reaction, and their bulk and grain boundary resistivities were assessed by AC impedance measurements. A difference in grain boundary resistivity was identified between Sr and Ca materials, and so the grain boundaries were examined using electron probe microanalysis (EPMA). The dif...

In a previous experimental study on free-standing silicon thin film, it was observed that cleavage front transmission across a through-thickness grain boundary could be considerably constrained by film surfaces. As a result, the boundary toughness was much lower than its bulk counterpart. In this study, inspired by the observation of crack front behaviors at triple grain boundary junctions, we ...

The grain boundary character distributions of selected doped aluminas were measured from normal and abnormal populations. The relative energies of the A-, C-, and Rplanes of undoped alumina were also measured. There is an inverse relationship between the population of grain boundaries and the relative energies of grain boundary planes in undoped alumina. This relationship is found to be qualita...

Nanocrystalline materials show a higher strain-rate sensitivity in contrast to the conventional coarse-grained materials and a different grain size dependency. To explain these phenomenon, a finite element model is constructed that considers both grain interior and grain boundary deformation of nanocrystalline materials. The model consist of several crystalline cores with different orientations...

We present a molecular dynamics simulation study of vacancy generation and emission from grain boundaries during curvature-driven grain boundary migration. The U-shaped half-loop bicrystal geometry is employed in order to maintain a constant driving force during boundary migration. Nonlinearities in plots of half-loop grain area versus time indicate the onset of non-steady-state behavior and va...