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Center for Nonlinear Studies |
The world’s pursuit of improved fuel efficiency has generated an interest in materials lightweighting. This search for advanced materials with low density and high strength has focused attention on several promising hexagonal close packed (hcp) structured materials, magnesium (Mg). Mg has a superior weight-to-strength ratio than steel or aluminum. However, its strong basal texture produces an undesirable characteristic of low ductility, which makes it an infeasible substitution for steel and aluminum. Despite this there is endless potential to be found in Mg alloys, but to design such alloys with increased ductility, strength and low density, we must first elucidate the contribution of individual and collective behavior of dislocations in dislocation mediated plasticity within Mg. I will be exploring the anisotropic single crystal properties that govern mechanical behavior of the different slip systems of Mg by advancing a Phase Field Dislocation Dynamics (PFDD) code to account for dislocation dissociation and slip within hcp structures.
Host: Abby Hunter and Curt Bronkhorst