The interface-dislocation dynamics model that I am developing is a new mesoscale model and break-through in materials modeling to bridge the length-scale gap from atomic-scale to macro-scale. With this predictive tool, people can develop the principles for the design of materials having superior mechanical properties.

In the paper "Dislocation induced anomalous softening of solid helium", our dislocation model provides a new approach applied to quantum solids and a different picture of the elastic softening.

Our dislocation dynamics simulations on small scale materials have dentified the determining critical events (i.e., dislocation multiplication, storage, nucleation and reactions etc.) for deformation response at small scales and how these events changed from bulk behavior as the system decreased in sizes. We created a physically based deformation mechanism map that accounts for the observed size-dependent behavior to help people understand the dislocation plasticity at different length scales.

Three of my papers on friction stir welding (FSW) have been listed on the "Top 25 Hottest Articles". In the FSW projest, I have done substantial work on identifying the influence of critical defects, such as oxidation arrays and "onion ring", on the fatigue properties of FSW welds.