Effect of grain boundary segregation of Co or Ti on cyclic deformation of aluminium bi-crystals

There exist many factors affecting fatigue behavior of metallic materials, among them the effect of grain boundary (GB) segregation of alloying elements remains largely unexplored. To exploit this factor, an atomistic simulation is performed to investigate the cyclic behavior of Al bi-crystals with GB segregation of Co or Ti during their mode I cyclic loading perpendicular to GB plane. Results are given in comparison with the case of pure Al bi-crystal. Detailed analysis of the structure evolution during cyclic loading for the considered bi-crystals is presented. It is found that during the cycling, plastic deformation of the pure Al bi-crystal occurs through perfect dislocation sliding followed by twinning, while the GB segregations inhibit the formation of both perfect dislocations and twins in an Al matrix leading to decrease in ductility of the bi-crystals and intergranular crack propagation rate. The cyclic loading of the samples with GB segregation is accompanied with a generation of plenty of Shockley partials. Both the alloying elements in GBs can improve the fatigue lifetime of the Al bi-crystals. The ability of GB segregations in bi-crystalline and polycrystalline Al to retard the dislocation emission from GBs that has been first theoretically revealed in the study could be successfully used to improve fatigue characteristics of metals, especially nanocrystalline metals with a dense GB network.