Effect of surfaces, internal and external, on the strength and ductility of metals

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Modern microelectronic and micromechanical devices contain tiny micrometer, and often submicrometer, size metal components. These components display significantly increased strength compared to their larger bulk metal counterparts. Theories describing their unique properties are often quite different than those describing the strength of classical bulk metal components despite the fact that the metal is the same in both cases. The plastic deformation of metals, across all length scales, is strongly influenced by the condition of the external surface around, and internal surfaces within, the deforming metal. This proposed study will approach the subject of length-scale dependent plastic deformation of metals by considering the relative influence of a variety of types of internal and external surfaces on the deformation process. In this way a unified understanding of the plastic deformation process will be arrived at that will greatly improve our predictive capability of the mechanical strength and ductility of existing, and new, metal components regardless of their size.