Precipitate-Induced Dynamic Strain Aging and Its Effect on the Strain Rate Sensitivity of Precipitation Hardened Aluminum Alloys
We examine precipitate-induced dynamic strain aging in precipitation-hardened Al-Cu alloys by combining atomistic simulations, kinetic Monte Carlo, and analytical rate theory. Atomistic simulations were used to characterize (1) the energetics of nearest neighbour Cu<->Al exchanges at dislocation - precipitate junctions and (2) the subsequent change in obstacle strength. For robustness, the simulations were performed with two distinct interatomic potentials. The resulting catalog of local Cu-Al exchange events was used as input for a kinetic Monte Carlo model of the time-dependent evolution of obstacle strength during dislocation pinning at the precipitate. The predicted strengthening kinetics were then embedded in an analytical dynamic strain aging model to predict the strain-rate sensitivity parameter. On the whole, the modeling predicts a low strain-rate sensitivity across a broad range of intermediate quasi-static strain rates, consistent with experimental observations for precipitate-strengthened alloys. The results therefore identify a mechanistic origin of the low strain-rate sensitivity in precipitation hardened aluminum alloys, emerging directly from the kinetics of dislocation-precipitate interactions when nearest neighbour Cu<->Al exchanges are considered.