Interaction between a screw dislocation and a circular nano-inhomogeneity with a bimaterial interface

The problem of a screw dislocation interacting with a circular nano-inhomogeneity near a bimaterial interface is investigated. The stress boundary condition at the interface between the inhomogeneity and the matrix is modified by incorporating surface/interface stress. The analytical solutions to the problem in explicit series are obtained by an efficient complex variable method associated with the conformal mapping function. The image force exerted on the screw dislocation is also derived using the generalized Peach-Koehler formula. The results indicate that the elastic interference of the screw dislocation and the nano-inhomogeneity is strongly affected by a combination of material elastic dissimilarity, the radius of the inclusion, the distance from the center of inclusion to the bimaterial interface, and the surface/interface stress between the inclusion and the matrix. Additionally, it is found that when the inclusion and Material 3 are both harder than the matrix (μ1 > μ2 and μ3 > μ2), a new stable equilibrium position for the screw dislocation in the matrix appears near the bimaterial interface; when the inclusion and Material 3 are both softer than the matrix (μ1 < μ2 and μ3 < μ2), a new unstable equilibrium position exists close to the bimaterial interface.