arXiv subjects

Sara J. Irvine

Publications and source records attributed to Sara J. Irvine.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Phase transitions of eutectic high entropy alloy AlCoCrFeNi2.1 under shock compression

High entropy alloys (HEAs) are a new class of metals that exhibit unique mechanical performance. Among HEAs, additively manufactured eutectic high entropy alloys (AM-EHEAs) have recently emerged as candidate materials for use in extreme conditions due to their simultaneous high strength and ductility. However, the deformation and structural evolution of AM-EHEAs under conditions of high pressure have not been well characterized, limiting their use in extreme applications. We present dynamic compression experiments and molecular dynamics simulations studying the structural evolution of AM-EHEA AlCoCrFeNi2.1 when compressed to pressures up to 400 GPa. Our in-situ X-ray diffraction measurements capture the appearance of fcc and bcc phases at different pressure conditions, with pure- and mixed-phase regions. Understanding the phase stability and structural evolution of the AM EHEA offers new insights to guide the development of high-performance complex materials for extreme conditions.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Pushing the limits of flow strength in diamond

Extreme pressures and temperatures create conditions that allow even hard and brittle materials to deform plastically. Despite extensive research, the upper limits of flow strength, the resistance to plastic flow, remain uncertain, and the mechanisms driving deformation at the relevant stresses are a subject of debate. Using femtosecond in situ X-ray diffraction experiments and large-scale molecular dynamics simulations, we demonstrate that stacking fault-mediated strengthening enables shock-compressed nano-polycrystalline diamond to achieve a peak flow strength of 107+-5 GPa at a stress of 227+-8 GPa. Our findings show that extreme conditions can unlock unusual strength via mechanisms that can be used as design tools in targeted applications.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2024

Computing virtual dark-field X-ray microscopy images of complex discrete dislocation structures from large-scale molecular dynamics simulations

Dark-field X-ray Microscopy (DFXM) is a novel diffraction-based imaging technique that non-destructively maps the local deformation from crystalline defects in bulk materials. While studies have demonstrated that DFXM can spatially map 3D defect geometries, it is still challenging to interpret DFXM images of the high dislocation density systems relevant to macroscopic crystal plasticity. This work develops a scalable forward model to calculate virtual DFXM images for complex discrete dislocation (DD) structures obtained from atomistic simulations. Our new DD-DFXM model integrates a non-singular formulation for calculating the local strain from the DD structures and an efficient geometrical optics algorithm for computing the DFXM image from the strain. We apply the model to complex DD structures obtained from a large-scale molecular dynamics (MD) simulation of compressive loading on a single-crystal silicon. Simulated DFXM images exhibit prominent feature contrast for dislocations between the multiple slip systems, demonstrating the DFXM's potential to resolve features from dislocation multiplication. The integrated DD-DFXM model provides a toolbox for DFXM experimental design and image interpretation in the context of bulk crystal plasticity for the breadth of measurements across shock plasticity and the broader materials science community.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2024

Dark-Field X-ray Microscopy for 2D and 3D imaging of Microstructural Dynamics at the European X-ray Free Electron Laser

Dark field X-ray microscopy (DXFM) can visualize microstructural distortions in bulk crystals. Using the femtosecond X-ray pulses generated by X-ray free-electron lasers (XFEL), DFXM can achieve sub-μm spatial resolution and <100 fs time resolution simultaneously. In this paper, we demonstrate ultrafast DFXM measurements at the European XFEL to visualize an optically-driven longitudinal strain wave propagating through a diamond single crystal. We also present two DFXM scanning modalities that are new to the XFEL sources: spatially 3D and 2D axial-strain scans with sub-μm spatial resolution. With this progress in XFEL-based DFXM, we discuss new opportunities to study multi-timescale spatio-temporal dynamics of microstructures.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗