Rev.Adv.Mater.Sci.(RAMS)
No 2, Vol. 13, 2006, pages 125-161

ELASTIC BEHAVIOR OF DEFECTS IN NANOMATERIALS.
I. MODELS FOR INFINITE AND SEMI-INFINITE MEDIA

M.Yu. Gutkin

Abstract

Elastic models for different defects (dislocations, disclinations, inclusions, and inhomogeneities) whose behavior forms the basis of plastic deformation and fracture in nanomaterials are reviewed. The solutions under discussion describe the elastic fields and energies of defects located in infinite homogeneous media, near flat free surfaces of half-spaces, or in vicinity of interphase boundaries in infinite bi-materials. In parallel with results of traditional description of elastic fields within the classical linear theory of elasticity, some basic solutions obtained within non-classical (strain gradient, nonlocal and gauge field) theories of elasticity are also discussed. It is demonstrated that the main achievement made in these non-classical approaches is the elimination of the classical singularities from the elastic fields at lines of dislocations and disclinations, as well as at edges of inclusions. A special attention is paid to the stress fields and nanoscopic elastic behavior of dislocations near interfaces described in the framework of strain gradient elasticity.

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