Multiscale Modeling of Point and Line Defects in Cubic Lattices

A multilength scale method based on asymptotic expansion homogenization (AEH) is developed to compute minimum energy configurations of ensembles of atoms at the fine length scale and the corresponding mechanical response of the material at the coarse length scale. This multiscale theory explicitly captures heterogeneity in microscopic atomic motion in crystalline materials, attributed, for example, to the presence of various point and line lattice defects. The formulation accounts for large deformations of nominally hyperelastic, monocrystalline solids. Unit cell calculations are performed to determine minimum energy configurations of ensembles of atoms of body-centered cubic tungsten in the presence of periodic arrays of vacancies and screw dislocations of line orientations [111] or [100]. Results of the theory and numerical implementation are verified versus molecular statics calculations based on conjugate gradient minimization (CGM) and are also compared with predictions from the local Cauchy-Born rule. For vacancy defects, the AEH method predicts the lowest system energy among the three methods, while computed energies are comparable between AEH and CGM for screw dislocations. Computed strain energies and defect energies (e.g., energies arising from local internal stresses and strains near defects) are used to construct and evaluate continuum energy functions for defective crystals parameterized via the vacancy density, the dislocation density tensor, and the generally incompatible lattice deformation gradient. For crystals with vacancies, a defect energy increasing linearly with vacancy density and applied elastic deformation is suggested, while for crystals with screw dislocations, a defect energy linearly dependent on the dislocation density tensor appears more appropriate than the quadratic dependency often encountered in the continuum plasticity literature. *Address all correspondence to [email protected] 1543-1649/06/$35.00 c © 2007 by Begell House, Inc. 203 Begell House Inc., http://begellhouse.com Downloaded 2008-1-29 from IP 128.63.66.91 by Dr. John Clayton (jdclayt) 204 CHUNG AND CLAYTON