Effects of elasticity and dislocation core structure on the interaction of dislocations with embedded CNTs in aluminium: An atomistic simulation study

The interaction between edge dislocations and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) embedded into an Al matrix is investigated. Both pristine and Ni-coated CNTs are considered. It is demonstrated that the embedded CNTs lead to a yield stress contribution equivalent to that of an array of non-shearable inclusions that are by-passed via the Orowan mechanism. The strain hardening mechanism associated with multiple dislocation passes shows, however, strong effects of atomistic core structure such as crystallographic and non-crystallographic cross slip of near-screw segments on the CNT-metal interface, dislocation lock formation and annihilation, jog formation and shedding of prismatic dislocation loops.