Interaction between dislocation and heterogeneous interface in Cu/Fe laminated composites based on discrete dislocation dynamics

Bimetal laminated composites (BLCs) exhibit more outstanding mechanical properties than traditional alloys due to the interaction between heterogeneous interface boundary (HIB) and dislocation. However, the underlying physics of the dislocation motion and the strengthening effect has not been uncovered at mesoscopic scale. In this study, the detailed microstructure of the Cu/Fe HIB was obtained by transmission electron microscope (TEM) observation. The dislocation model was established using discrete dislocation dynamics (DDD), and several interactions between the dislocation and HIB were focused on, as well as the intrinsic strengthening mechanisms of the HIB. The results show that different HIB characteristics induce different interaction mechanisms such as absorption, slip transmission, slip on the HIB, emission from HIB and reflection by HIB, resulting in different strengthening effect on the BLCs. The HIB promotes slip of the dislocation emitted from the Fe, while prevents movement of the dislocation emitted from Cu. Since dislocation slip is more difficult in Fe, greater elastic deformation occurs before large-scale expansion of the dislocation, resulting in larger nominal yield strength. The presence of HIB increases the difficulty of dislocation movement compared to the single crystal structure, which in turn improves the overall strength of BLCs. Due to the different dislocation motion and strain gradient, the mechanism of that dislocation slip absorption by the HIB has optimal strengthening effect relative to other interaction mechanisms. The strengthening effect of other interaction mechanisms is influenced by the position of the dislocation emission, the type of interaction mechanism, and the angle between adjacent slip planes, etc. The outcome of present research sheds important insights into the design of HIB strengthening materials, such as multi- and nano- laminated composites.