Dislocation stability in three-phase nanocomposites with imperfect interface

Interface imperfection can significantly affect the mechanical properties and failure mechanisms as well as the strength and toughness of nanocomposites. The elastic behavior of a screw dislocation in nanoscale coating with imperfect interface is studied in the three-phase composite cylinder model. The interface between inner nanoin- homogeneity and intermediate coating is assumed as perfectly bonded. The bonding between intermediate coating and outer matrix is considered to be imperfect with the assumption that interface imperfection is uniform, and a linear spring model is adopted to describe the weakness of imperfect interface. The explicit expression for image force acting on dislocation is obtained by means of a complex variable method. The analytic results indicate that inner interface effect and outer interface imperfection, simultaneously taken into account, would influence greatly image force, equilibrium position and stability of dislocation, and various critical parameters that would change dislocation stability. The weaker interface is a very strong trap for glide dislocation and, thus, a more effective barrier for slip transmission.