Toward a further understanding of intermittent plastic responses in the compressed single/bicrystalline micropillars

The compressive properties of two single- and bicrystalline micropillars are comparatively modeled through three-dimensional discrete dislocation dynamics. A dislocation-penetrable pure tilt grain boundary (GB) model is especially taken into account in the bicrystalline micropillar. Different intermittent plastic behaviors of these two micropillars compressed in a displacement-controlled manner are computationally captured. The underlying mechanisms are discussed and detailed comparisons with experiments are also made.