Cavity Formation from Inclusions

in Ductile Fracture
A. S. ARGON, J. I'M, AND R. SAFOGLU
The p r e v i o u s l y p r o p o s e d conditions for c a v i t y f o r m a t i o n f r o m e q u i a x e d i n c l u s i o n s in d u c t i l e
f r a c t u r e have b e e n e x a m i n e d . C r i t i c a l l o c a l e l a s t i c e n e r g y conditions a r e found to b e n e c e s s a r y but not s u f f i c i e n t f o r c a v i t y f o r m a t i o n . The i n t e r f a c i a l s t r e n g t h m u s t a l s o be r e a c h e d
on p a r t of the b o u n d a r y . F o r i n c l u s i o n s l a r g e r than about 100.~ the e n e r g y condition i s a l w a y s s a t i s f i e d when the i n t e r r a c i a l s t r e n g t h is r e a c h e d and c a v i t i e s f o r m b y a c r i t i c a l i n t e r f a c i a l s t r e s s condition. F o r s m a l l e r c a v i t i e s the s t o r e d e l a s t i c e n e r g y is i n s u f f i c i e n t to
open up i n t e r r a c i a l c a v i t i e s s p o n t a n e o u s l y . A p p r o x i m a t e continuum a n a l y s e s for e x t r e m e
i d e a l i z a t i o n s of m a t r i x b e h a v i o r f u r n i s h r e l a t i v e l y c l o s e l i m i t s for the i n t e r f a c i a l s t r e s s
c o n c e n t r a t i o n f o r s t r a i n h a r d e n i n g m a t r i c e s flowing a r o u n d r i g i d n o n - y i e l d i n g e q u i a x e d i n c l u s i o n s . Such a n a l y s e s give that in p u r e s h e a r loading the m a x i m u m i n t e r r a c i a l s t r e s s is
v e r y n e a r l y equal to the e q u i v a l e n t flow s t r e s s in t e n s i o n f o r the given s t a t e of p l a s t i c
s t r a i n . P r e v i o u s l y p r o p o s e d m o d e l s b a s e d on a l o c a l d i s s i p a t i o n of d e f o r m a t i o n i n c o m p a t i b i l i t i e s b y the punching of d i s l o c a t i o n l o o p s l e a d to r a t h e r s i m i l a r r e s u l t s for i n t e r f a c i a l
s t r e s s c o n c e n t r a t i o n when l o c a l p l a s t i c r e l a x a t i o n is a l l o w e d i n s i d e the l o o p s . At v e r y
s m a l l v o l u m e f r a c t i o n s of s e c o n d p h a s e the i n c l u s i o n s do not i n t e r a c t for v e r y s u b s t a n t i a l
a m o u n t s of p l a s t i c s t r a i n . In t h i s r e g i m e the i n t e r f a c i a l s t r e s s i s independent of i n c l u s i o n
s i z e . At l a r g e r v o l u m e f r a c t i o n s of s e c o n d p h a s e , i n c l u s i o n s b e g i n to i n t e r a c t a f t e r m o d e r a t e a m o u n t s of p l a s t i c s t r a i n , and the i n t e r r a c i a l s t r e s s c o n c e n t r a t i o n b e c o m e s d e p e n d e n t
on s e c o n d p h a s e v o l u m e f r a c t i o n . Some of the m a n y r e p o r t e d i n s t a n c e s of i n c l u s i o n s i z e
effect in c a v i t y f o r m a t i o n can thus b e s a t i s f a c t o r i l y e x p l a i n e d b y v a r i a t i o n s of v o l u m e f r a c tion of s e c o n d p h a s e f r o m point to point.

IT

a p p e a r s that J o s e p h Henry, l of e l e c t r o - m a g n e t i s m
f a m e , h a s r e c o g n i z e d a s e a r l y a s 1855 t h a t m e t a l s f r a c t u r e p r e m a t u r e l y b y a p r o c e s s of i n t e r n a l n e c k i n g when
e x t e n d e d b y s t r e t c h i n g . He a d v i s e d that w i r e d r a w i n g
and r o l l i n g w e r e p r e f e r a b l e o p e r a t i o n s (for t h i s and
o t h e r i n t e r e s t i n g h i s t o r i c a l p e r s p e c t i v e s on d e f o r m a t i o n
p r o c e s s i n g s e e BackofenZ). In m o r e r e c e n t t i m e s P u t t i c k s t r a c e d the c a u s e of d u c t i l e f r a c t u r e to the d e v e l o p m e n t of h o l e s f r o m i n c l u s i o n s (for a s u m m a r y of e a r l i e r
v i e w s on d u c t i l e f r a c t u r e and t h e i r i n a d e q u a c y s e e O r o wan4). The p r o c e s s h a s s i n c e b e e n i n v e s t i g a t e d e x t e n s i v e l y both e x p e r i m e n t a l l y and t h e o r e t i c a l l y . The c u r r e n t l e v e l of u n d e r s t a n d i n g of the r o l e of i n c l u s i o n s in
d u c t i l e f r a c t u r e h a s b e e n r e v i e w e d b y R o s e n f i e l d . s It
h a s now b e e n g e n e r a l l y e s t a b l i s h e d that once i n t e r n a l
cavities are nucleated from inclusions or second phase
p a r t i c l e s , t h e y can be p l a s t i c a l l y e x p a n d e d u n d e r v a r i ous c o m b i n a t i o n s of s h e a r s t r e s s and n e g a t i v e p r e s s u r e .
A n a l y s e s of h o m o g e n e o u s p l a s t i c c a v i t a t i o n b y M c C l i n tock, 6 R i c e and T r a c y ~ and o t h e r s have e l u c i d a t e d the
i m p o r t a n c e of n e g a t i v e p r e s s u r e s in the flow f i e l d in
h a s t e n i n g the p l a s t i c hole e x p a n s i o n p r o c e s s . C o m p a r i son of such a n a l y s e s with e x p e r i m e n t s have shown that
local ductile fracture requires considerably smaller
a v e r a g e p l a s t i c s t r a i n a s a r e s u l t of l o c a l i z a t i o n of d i l a t i o n a l d e f o r m a t i o n into z o n e s , 8 followed b y f o r m a t i o n
A. S. ARGON is Professor of Mechanical Engineering and J. IM is
Graduate Student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
Cambridge, Mass., 02139. R. SAFOGLU is with the Department of
Mining and Metallurgy, Technical University of Instanbul, Istanbul,
Turkey. This work has been presented in part orally at the Third
International Conference on Fracture in Munich, Germany, April
1973.
Manuscript submitted November 5, 1973.
METALLURGICAL TRANSACTIONS A

and p r o p a g a t i o n of c r a c k s w h e r e the hole e x p a n s i o n p r o c e s s i s s h a r p l y confined into p o r t i o n s of the h i g h l y

s t r a i n e d zone in f r o n t of the c r a c k . 9'1~ Although t h e s e
p r o c e s s e s of t e r m i n a l d u c t i l e s e p a r a t i o n a r e not y e t
fully u n d e r s t o o d , they a r e in a f a r b e t t e r l e v e l of d e v e l opment than the i n i t i a l p r o c e s s e s which l e a d to the nuc l e a t i o n of h o l e s f r o m s e c o n d p h a s e i n c l u s i o n p a r t i c l e s . 5
On the e x p e r i m e n t a l s i d e t h e r e have b e e n c o n f l i c t i n g o b s e r v a t i o n s r e p o r t i n g the n u c l e a t i o n of c a v i t i e s f r o m i n c l u s i o n s a n y w h e r e f r o m i m m e d i a t e l y upon y i e l d i n g to
a f t e r the d e v e l o p m e n t of v e r y l a r g e p l a s t i c s t r a i n s .
C a v i t i e s have b e e n r e p o r t e d to n u c l e a t e both on i n t e r f a c e s b y t e a r i n g the i n c l u s i o n a w a y f r o m the d u c t i l e
m a t r i x , and b y c r a c k i n g of n o n - d e f o r m a b l e i n c l u s i o n s .
On the o t h e r hand s e m i q u a n t i t a t i v e t h e o r e t i c a l s t u d i e s
h a v e b e e n m a d e , b a s e d on r e l e a s e of s t o r e d e l a s t i c e n e r g y , 1~'12 p r o d u c t i o n of high s t r e s s e s b y i m p i n g e m e n t of
d i s l o c a t i o n p i l e - u p s on i n c l u s i o n s , ~1'1s and b y r e v e r s e
p i l e - u p s of p l a s t i c a c c o m m o d a t i o n loops i n i t i a t e d b y
punching f r o m the i n t e r f a c e . .4 More p h e n o m e n o l o g i c a l
m o d e l s have a l s o b e e n a d v a n c e d b a s e d on the d e v e l o p m e n t of high l o c a l s h e a r s t r a i n s at p a r t i c l e i n t e r f a c e s . ~
H e r e we will b r i e f l y r e v i e w t h e s e m e c h a n i s m s of c a v i t y
n u c l e a t i o n and p r e s e n t new a n a l y t i c a l d e v e l o p m e n t s on a
l o c a l s t r e s s c r i t e r i o n of i n t e r r a c i a l s e p a r a t i o n . In t h e
a c c o m p a n y i n g p a p e r ~8 we c o m p a r e the r e s u l t s of e x p e r i m e n t s on a n u m b e r of i n c l u s i o n - b e a r i n g m e t a l s with
t h e s e new a n a l y t i c a l d e v e l o p m e n t s .
1. C R I T E R I A FOR INCLUSION SEPARATION
1.1. A s s e s s m e n t of E a r l i e r D e v e l o p m e n t s
Although it h a s g e n e r a l l y b e e n r e c o g n i z e d t h a t s o m e
p l a s t i c s t r a i n is n e c e s s a r y to f o r m h o l e s at i n c l u s i o n s ,
VOLUME 6A. APRIL 1975-825

m o s t quantitative d e v e l o p m e n t s for ductile f r a c t u r e have

c o m p a r e d e x p e r i m e n t a l l y m e a s u r e d s t r a i n s to f r a c t u r e
with t h e o r e t i c a l l y computed s t r a i n s for hole growth and
c o a l e s c e n c e . 17'7 T h e r e a r e m a n y o b s e r v a t i o n s , however,
which show that m o s t often l a r g e p l a s t i c s t r a i n s a r e r e q u i r e d to t e a r i n c l u s i o n s f r e e , or produce i n t e r n a l f r a c t u r e in t h e m . ~s-z~ Hence we a s s u m e together with m o s t
of the f o r m e r w o r k e r s who have c o n s i d e r e d the p r o b l e m
of cavity n u c l e a t i o n that such holes a r e a r e s u l t of a
m o r e or l e s s e x t e n s i v e p r e - p r o c e s s i n g . It has b e e n g e n e r a l l y o b s e r v e d that while i n c l u s i o n s with l a r g e a s p e c t
r a t i o m a y undergo m u l t i p l e i n t e r n a l f r a c t u r i n g , e q u i axed i n c l u s i o n s a l m o s t always nucleate holes by i n t e r f a c i a l s e p a r a t i o n . Here we confine our attention only to
the equiaxed inclusions which we w i l l c o n s i d e r as a f i r s t
a p p r o x i m a t i o n as r i g i d and p l a s t i c a l l y n o n - d e f o r m a b l e .
The p r o b l e m of n o n - e q u i a x e d i n c l u s i o n s , whose b e h a v i o r
depends on t h e i r shape and o r i e n t a t i o n in addition to
t h e i r s i z e and s p a c i n g is a complex one and will not be
discussed here.
As a l r e a d y m e n t i o n e d in the p r e v i o u s section, the
e a r l i e r c o n s i d e r a t i o n s of i n c l u s i o n s e p a r a t i o n can be
grouped into t h r e e c a t e g o r i e s , e n e r g y c r i t e r i a , local
s t r e s s c r i t e r i a , and local s t r a i n c r i t e r i a .
G u r l a n d and P l a t e a u ~ p r o p o s e d that c r a c k s at i n t e r f a c e s could f o r m when the l o c a l l y c o n c e n t r a t e d e l a s t i c
s t r a i n e n e r g y which could be r e l e a s e d upon decohesion
b e c o m e s c o m p a r a b l e to the e n e r g y of the s u r f a c e s to be
g e n e r a t e d . C o n s i d e r i n g no local p l a s t i c a c c o m m o d a t i o n
and without i n v e s t i g a t i n g whether or not the s t o r e d e l a s tic e n e r g y could a c t u a l l y be r e l e a s e d by c r a c k f o r m a tion, they b a s e d t h e i r a r g u m e n t s on d i m e n s i o n a l a n a l y sis and concluded that c r a c k s would f o r m at lower applied s t r e s s e s on l a r g e i n c l u s i o n s . As pointed out by
Brown and Stobbs 2~ the a n a l y s i s of G u r l a n d and P l a t e a u
is only a n e c e s s a r y condition for i n c l u s i o n s e p a r a t i o n .
A m o r e c o r r e c t a n a l y s i s by Tanaka, Mori, and Nakam u r a ~2 has shown that i n a p u r e l y e l a s t i c situation, the
e n e r g y c r i t e r i o n is alwa~cs s a t i s f i e d for p a r t i c l e s above
a d i a m e t e r of about 250A, a l m o s t upon yielding. Since
in m a n y i n s t a n c e s i n c l u s i o n s of m o r e than h u n d r e d
t i m e s this s i z e have b e e n o b s e r v e d to r e m a i n attached
to the m a t r i x at s t r a i n s m o r e than h u n d r e d t i m e s the
yield s t r a i n it m u s t be concluded that the e n e r g y r e q u i r e m e n t is only a n e c e s s a r y one and that actual s e p a r a t i o n r e q u i r e s r e a c h i n g the i n t e r f a c i a l s t r e n g t h at the
i n t e r f a c e , at l e a s t at s o m e local points, to provide a n u cleus of s e p a r a t i o n . It m u s t then follow that for v e r y
s m a l l p a r t i c l e s of d i a m e t e r much l e s s than the c r i t i c a l
d i a m e t e r of 250A w h e r e the e n e r g y c r i t e r i o n m a y not
be s a t i s f i e d even when local s t r e s s e s r e a c h the i n t e r f a c i a l s t r e n g t h , s t a b l e c a v i t i e s a r e difficult to f o r m .
The i n t e r f a c e would m e r e l y s e p a r a t e a d i s t a n c e of the
o r d e r of a t o m i c d i m e n s i o n s r e l i e v i n g much of the e l a s tic s t r a i n e n e r g y but s t i l l t r a n s m i t t i n g some long r a n g e
a t t r a c t i v e f o r c e s . C a v i t i e s could then s t i l l f o r m v e r y
g r a d u a l l y and in a s t a b l e m a n n e r as the local d i s p l a c e m e n t i n c o m p a t i b i l i t i e s at the i n t e r f a c e continue to i n c r e a s e with i n c r e a s i n g a v e r a g e p l a s t i c s t r a i n . S i m i l a r
p r o b l e m s of this n a t u r e r e l a t e d to the v e r y s h o r t r a n g e
s i n g u l a r s t r e s s fields a r o u n d d i s l o c a t i o n c o r e s have
b e e n d i s c u s s e d b y Stroh. z~
G u r l a n d and P l a t e a u u and also B r o e k ~3 have a t t r i b u t e d
cavity f o r m a t i o n to i m p i n g e m e n t of d i s l o c a t i o n p i l e - u p s
at i n c l u s i o n s in the m a n n e r p r o p o s e d b y Z e n e r 2z and a n n 826-VOLUME 6A, APRIL 1975

lyzed by Stroh. z3 At low t e m p e r a t u r e where slip tends to

be p l a n a r , c a v i t i e s can be produced by this m e c h a n i s m
e s p e c i a l l y if the i n c l u s i o n s have a l a r g e a s p e c t r a t i o i n c r e a s i n g the p r o b a b i l i t y for them to i n t e r f e r e with such
p l a n a r slip. Some of the o b s e r v a t i o n s on the splitting of
elongated i n c l u s i o n s is p r o b a b l y due to this m e c h a n i s m .
At m o d e r a t e t e m p e r a t u r e s in close packed m e t a l s where
m a n y e q u i v a l e n t slip s y s t e m s b e c o m e o p e r a b l e and slip
tends to b e c o m e wavy, the e a s e of s e c o n d a r y slip will
make the d e v e l o p m e n t of high s t r e s s e s difficult or a l m o s t i m p o s s i b l e . T h e r e f o r e , in ductile fee m e t a l s and
even in bee m e t a l s at m o d e r a t e t e m p e r a t u r e s this m e c h a n i s m is a l m o s t c e r t a i n l y not r e s p o n s i b l e for cavity f o r m a t i o n a r o u n d i n c l u s i o n s . Ashby ~4 has d i s c u s s e d an i n t e r e s t i n g a l t e r n a t i v e in which p r i m a r y d e f o r m a t i o n i n c o m p a t i b i l i t i e s do not produce c a v i t i e s d i r e c t l y , but i n i tiate highly o r g a n i z e d s e c o n d a r y slip b y punching out
d i s l o c a t i o n loops f r o m the i n t e r f a c e of the i n c l u s i o n with
the m a t r i x to r e d u c e the local s h e a r s t r e s s e s . These
loops then f o r m r e v e r s e p i l e - u p s and can b u i l d up i n c r e a s i n g i n t e r f a c i a l t e n s i l e s t r e s s e s until they r e a c h
the i n t e r f a c i a l s t r e n g t h when a cavity is f o r m e d . A s h b y ' s
model a m o u n t s to a s p e c i a l upper bound a n a l y s i s for
plastically dissipating primary deformation incompatib i l i t i e s ; it is however not an upper bound a n a l y s i s for
the total p r o b l e m s i n c e the a s s u m e d flow field is only
local and does not s a t i s f y the d i s t a n t d e f o r m a t i o n b o u n d a r y conditions of the e n t i r e body. Ashby has shown that
this model can also be f o r m u l a t e d c o m p l e t e l y as a m a c r o s c o p i c slip line field in which positive and negative
d e f o r m a t i o n i n c o m p a t i b i l i t i e s a r o u n d the p a r t i c l e can
be b a l a n c e d a g a i n s t each other by a closed slip line field
of four lobes, e4 Thus, in spite of the fact that the i n t e r f a c i a l s t r e s s e s c a l c u l a b l e by this model a r e no b e t t e r
than a high upper bound, the model is c o n c e p t u a l l y s i m ple and as we will show l a t e r is useful in u n d e r s t a n d i n g
i n t e r a c t i o n s b e t w e e n p a r t i c l e s to explain why l a r g e p a r t i c l e s lead to cavity f o r m a t i o n b e f o r e s m a l l p a r t i c l e s .
McClintock 15 has given an e x t e n s i v e e l a s t i c - p l a s t i c
continuum a n a l y s i s of s t r e s s d i s t r i b u t i o n s a r o u n d c y l i n d r i c a l p a r t i c l e s in a n t i - p l a n e s t r a i n , where it is shown
that l a r g e s t r a i n c o n c e n t r a t i o n s can develop a r o u n d n o n d e f o r m i n g p a r t i c l e s in n o n - s t r a i n h a r d e n i n g m a t r i c e s .
Arguing that s i m i l a r s t r a i n c o n c e n t r a t i o n s m u s t also
occur in plane s t r a i n d e f o r m a t i o n and that such high
s t r a i n c o n c e n t r a t i o n s in c r y s t a l p l a s t i c i t y a r e u s u a l l y
composed of d i s l o c a t i o n p i l e - u p s , McClintock has s u g gested that cavity f o r m a t i o n at i n t e r f a c e s m a y obey a
c r i t i c a l local s t r a i n c r i t e r i o n , or a l t e r n a t i v e l y a c r i t e r i o n that m a y be a m i x t u r e of a c r i t i c a l i n t e r r a c i a l
s h e a r i n g s t r a i n and an i n t e r f a c i a l n o r m a l s t r e s s . The
n a t u r e of this c o m b i n e d c r i t e r i o n has not b e e n c l a r i f i e d .
Most i n v e s t i g a t o r s have adopted one of the above c r i t e r i a to explain t h e i r r e s u l t s .
Below we will c o n s i d e r the s e p a r a t i o n p r i m a r i l y of
only l a r g e p a r t i c l e s for which the e n e r g y c r i t e r i o n is
always s a t i s f i e d and cavity f o r m a t i o n can be expected
to depend on r e a c h i n g l o c a l l y a c r i t i c a l i n t e r f a c i a l t e n sile s t r e n g t h .
1.2 C r i t i c a l S t r e s s C r i t e r i a B a s e d on
Continuum D e f o r m a t i o n
In m o s t i n s t a n c e s ductile f r a c t u r e r e s u l t s f r o m c a v i t i e s f o r m e d a r o u n d i n c l u s i o n s of m i c r o n s i z e . On the
METALLURGICAL TRANSACTIONS A

o t h e r hand, t r a n s m i s s i o n e l e c t r o n m i c r o s c o p y of d i s l o en'n~
cation s t r u c t u r e s a r o u n d i n c l u s i o n s of s u b - m i c r o n s i z e
have shown that the s p a c i n g of the s u r r o u n d i n g d i s l o c a tions in the high s t r a i n g r a d i e n t z o n e s a r e v e r y much
s m a l l e r than the p a r t i c l e d i a m e t e r , (see e . g . , Ref. 18)
os u g g e s t i n g that at l e a s t f o r l a r g e p a r t i c l e s a continuum
a n a l y s i s of d e f o r m a t i o n is p r o p e r . On the o t h e r hand
d i s l o c a t i o n s t r u c t u r e s around s m a l l p a r t i c l e s of only
s e v e r a l h u n d red A n g s t r o m s d i a m e t e r a r e u s u a l l y highly
Non - ha r d e n i n g
o r g a n i z e d p r i s m a t i c loops, 2~ r e q u i r i n g a m o r e d i s idealization
c r e t e d i s l o c a t i o n a n a l y s i s f o r the i n t e r f a c i a l s t r e s s e s . *
*In materialswherestrong slip bands can form due to a low stacking fault
energy or due to some form of strain softening,the scale for continuum analysis
willbe of the order of these slip band lengths.
Below we will d i s c u s s both a p p r o a c h e s in o r d e r .
C o n s i d e r i n g the p a r t i c l e as a r i g i d c y l i n d e r and the
s u r r o u n d i n g m a t r i x as an e l a s t i c , p l a s t i c s t r a i n h a r d e n ing continuum, the d e v e l o p m e n t of i n t e r f a c i a l s t r e s s e s
E
is d e s i r e d f o r p u r e s h e a r d e f o r m a t i o n . The s o l u t i o n for
Fig. 1--Idealization of actual plastic behavior by two limiting
any o t h e r s t a t e of d e f o r m a t i o n h a v i n g a n e g a t i v e p r e s forms of non-hardening rigid plastic, and linear behavior.
s u r e co m p o n en t can then be obtained by s u p e r i m p o s i n g
this n e g a t i v e p r e s s u r e on the i n t e r f a c i a l s t r e s s e s of the
p u r e s h e a r solution. Some s o l u t io n s of this type a l r e a d y
u2= - u I
e x i s t . Huang 2s has p r e s e n t e d a d e f o r m a t i o n t h e o r y s o l u tion f o r a r i g i d c y l i n d r i c a l i n c l u s i o n e m b e d d e d into an
incompressible Ramberg-Osgood (power-law) m a t e r i a l
with a s t r e s s exponent of 7. He finds that a s t r a i n i n d e pendent, c o n s t a n t i n t e r r a c i a l t e n s i l e s t r e s s c o n c e n t r a tion d e v e l o p s which is m a x i m i z e d at an angle of about
12 deg t o w a r d e i t h e r side of the p r i n c i p a l t e n s i o n axis,
and has a m ag n i t u d e of 1.36 t i m e s the distant b o u n d a r y
s h e a r t r a c t i o n . Huang a l s o showed that f o r a d e c r e a s e
Ul=O
uI
in the s t r e s s exponent c o r r e s p o n d i n g to i n c r e a s i n g s t r a i n
h a r d e n i n g b e h a v i o r the s t r e s s c o n c e n t r a t i o n i n c r e a s e s
s t e a d i l y (and p r e s u m a b l y a p p r o a c h e s a s y m p t o t i c a l l y the
solution f o r an i n c o m p r e s s i b l e l i n e a r m a t e r i a l ) . O r r and
Bro wn ~ have c o n s i d e r e d the s a m e p r o b l e m in which the
m a t r i x was m o d e l l e d as an i n c o m p r e s s i b l e e l a s t i c - p l a s tic m a t e r i a l with e i t h e r no h a r d e n i n g or a l i n e a r h a r d e n ur:O
ing r a t e eq u al to 1/40 of the Young's modulus. O r r and
uS= Obl
Bro wn too find that the i n t e r f a c i a l t e n s i l e s t r e s s r e a c h e s
u2 = 0
a m a x i m u m v a l u e away f r o m the p r i n c i p a l t e n s i l e d i r e c tion but at an angle of about 17 deg t o w a r d e i t h e r side of Fig. 2--One quadrant of grid for finite element solution of initiation of plastic flow in pure shear around a rigid cylinder.
this d i r e c t i o n . Unlike Huang, O r r and Brown find, howe v e r , that the magnitude of the i n t e r r a c i a l t e n s i l e s t r e s s
c o n c e n t r a t i o n s we have obtained a finite e l e m e n t s o l u c o n c e n t r a t i o n i n c r e a s e s s t e a d i l y as the distant p l a s t i c
tion f o r the p u r e s h e a r d e f o r m a t i o n of an e l a s t i c - i d e a l l y
s t r a i n i n c r e a s e s both f o r the n o n - h a r d e n i n g as well as
p l a s t i c , n o n - h a r d e n i n g continuum around a r i g i d c y l i n the h a r d e n i n g m a t e r i a l , and shows l i t t l e change in this
d r i c a l i n c l u s i o n and c o m p a r e d this with the a v a i l a b l e
b e h a v i o r e v e n at d is t a n t p l a s t i c s t r a i n l e v e l s 15 t i m e s
l i n e a r s o l u t i o n as the o t h e r f o r m of e x t r e m e i d e a l i z a the y i el d s t r a i n - - i n s p it e of the fact that a s t e a d y s t a t e
tion.
m i g h t be e x p e c t e d f r o m upper bound a r g u m e n t s f o r the
The chosen net c o n f i g u r a t i o n for the finite e l e m e n t
n o n - h a r d e n i n g c a s e . At that t i m e the m a x i m u m i n t e r solution c o r r e s p o n d i n g to 0.01 v o l u m e f r a c t i o n of s e c o n d
f a c i a l s t r e s s is 2.52, and 3.03 t i m e s the b o u n d a r y s h e a r
phase is shown in Fig. 2. The e l a s t i c - p l a s t i c p r o g r a m
t r a c t i o n f o r the n o n - h a r d e n i n g and l i n e a r l y s t r a i n h a r d of M a r c a l and King 29 was used f o r s i x i n c r e m e n t s of c o n ening m a t e r i a l r e s p e c t i v e l y . B e c a u s e of this difficulty
stant t e n s i l e and c o m p r e s s i v e b o u n d a r y d i s p l a c e m e n t s
of a l a c k of s t e a d y s t a t e f o r the n o n - h a r d e n i n g m a t e r i a l
e q u i v a l e n t to p u r e s h e a r , s t a r t i n g f r o m the point w h e r e
e v e n at l a r g e p l a s t i c s t r a i n s , we find the solution of
s o m e e l e m e n t s in the c h o s e n n e t w o r k just b e c o m e p l a s O r r and B ro wn not v e r y useful.
tic. The solution was obtained f o r conditions r e p r e s e n Rhee and M c C l i n t o c k m h a v e d e m o n s t r a t e d by m e a n s
of a n u m b e r of s p e c i f i c e x a m p l e s that the s t r a i n c o n c e n - t a t i v e f o r a d u c t i l e m e t a l such as a l u m i n u m (or copper),
i.e., f o r a Young's modulus of 104 ksi, a P o i s s o n ' s r a t i o
t r a t i o n s in i n h o m o g e n e o u s d e f o r m a t i o n f i e l d s in s t r a i n
of 1/3, and a y i el d s t r e s s in t e n s i o n of 1.6 ksi, giving
h a r d e n i n g m a t e r i a l s can be bounded by two l i m i t i n g
Ey = 1.6 9 10 -3. The s p r e a d i n g of the p l a s t i c z o n e s with
i d e a l i z a t i o n s of the p l a s t i c b e h a v i o r of the m a t e r i a l : a
t h e s e i n c r e m e n t s is shown in F i g s . 3(a) t h r o ugh (e) as
n o n - h a r d e n i n g r i g i d p l a s t i c b e h a v i o r and a l i n e a r b e the shaded r e g i o n s . The c o m p u t e d i n t e r f a c i a l t e n s i l e
h a v i o r with z e r o y i e l d s t r e s s as shown in Fig. 1. A s s t r e s s e s and t a n g e n t i a l s h e a r s t r a i n s a r o u n d the i n c l u s u m i n g that the s a m e i d e a m a y a l s o extend to s t r e s s
METALLURGICAL TRANSACTIONS A

VOLUME 6A,APRIL 1975-827

Table la. Normalized Radial Stresses Orr/k Around the Inclusion,

Measured From a Point under the Tensile Direction
0

(b)

(a)

')'~(k/G)

4.5 deg

13.5 deg

22.5 deg

31.5 deg

40.5 deg

0.770
0.848
0.925
1.000
1.080
I. 158

1.495
1.606
1.550
1.480
1.425
1.400

1.400
1.535
1.510
1.440
1.380
1.380

1.025
1.125
1.070
1.000
0.930
0.900

0.765
0.825
0.905
0.875
0.875
0.870

0.160
0.175
0.180
O. 150
0.140
0.100

Table lb. Normalized Tangential Stresses o~/k Around the Inclusion,

Measured From a Point Under the Tensile Direction
0

(c)

'

(d)

')'~(k/G)

4.5 deg

13.5 dog

22.5 deg

31.5 deg

40.5 dog

0.770
0.848
0.925
1.000
1.080
1.158

0.745
0.800
0.780
0.740
0.710
0.700

0.700
0.765
0.755
0.720
0.690
0.690

0.510
0.560
0.535
0.500
0.465
0.450

0.385
0.435
0.420
0.500
0.500
0.520

0.080
0.090
0.100
0.090
0.090
0.060

Table Ic. Magnitude of Normalized Tangential Shear Strain T,~I(k/G) Around the
Inclusion, Measured From a Point Under the Tensile Direction
0

(e)

sion as a function of an angle 0 m e a s u r e d f r o m the d i r e c t i o n of p r i n c i p a l t e n s i o n a r e given in T a b l e s Ia

through c. Unlike the two solutions d i s c u s s e d above our
s o l u t i o n shows a flat maxxmum for the i n t e r r a c i a l s t r e s s
in the p r i n c i p a l t e n s i l e d i r e c t i o n without a s i g n i f i c a n t
drop b e f o r e an angle of about 15 deg. Since the finite
e l e m e n t net is quite c o a r s e and other u n e v e n n e s s e s of
s t r e s s a r e a p p a r e n t f r o m Table I, we a t t r i b u t e this to
defects in the p r o g r a m and accept the m a x i m u m i n t e r facial s t r e s s at 0 = 0 deg as an a p p r o p r i a t e m e a s u r e of
the c o n c e n t r a t e d i n t e r f a c i a l t e n s i l e s t r e s s . The change
of this m a x i m u m s t r e s s in units of the yield s t r e n g t h in
s h e a r k of the m a t r i x is given as a function of the i n c r e a s i n g d i s t a n t s h e a r s t r a i n in Fig. 4, and i n d i c a t e s
that a f a i r l y s t a b l e solution was r e a c h e d . The m a x i m u m
i n t e r f a c i a l t e n s i l e s t r e s s is found to be 1.5k which is
somewhat higher than the s t r e s s obtained by Huang. The
d i s t r i b u t i o n of e q u i v a l e n t s h e a r s t r a i n which is mapped
out by the s p r e a d i n g p l a s t i c zones shown in Fig. 3(a)
through (e) r e s e m b l e c l o s e l y that obtained by O r r and
Brown. We note f u r t h e r f r o m Table Ic that t h e r e is
only a v e r y m o d e r a t e i n t e r f a c i a l s h e a r s t r a i n c o n c e n 6A, APRIL 1975

4.5 deg

13.5 deg

22.5 deg

31.5 deg

40.5 deg

0.770
0.848
0.925
1.000
1.080
1.I 58

0.026
0,032
0,032
0,032
0.026
0.026

0.570
0.622
0.610
0.675
0.692
0.725

0.615
0.675
0.660
0.725
0.740
0.770

0.950
1.060
1.225
1.220
1.255
1.340

0.970
1.080
1-250
1.240
1.275
1.360

(f)

Fig. 3--Spreading of the plastic region (shaded) with increasing boundary displacements for elastic, non-hardening plastic
idealization: (a) u 1 = u 0 where plastic flow is just initiated, (b)
U1 = 1.1u O, (C) u 1 = 1.2Uo, (d) u 1 = 1.3u O, (e) u 1 = 1.4Uo, (f) u 1
= 1.5u o.

828-VOLUME

"y/(k/G)

t r a t i o n of about 1.10 on the i n t e r f a c e p a r a l l e l to the

p l a n e s of m a x i m u m s h e a r s t r a i n in the d i s t a n t field
(i.e., at e = 45 deg).
The second bounding solution for the i n t e r f a c i a l
s t r e s s e s a r o u n d a r i g i d i n c l u s i o n in an i n c o m p r e s s i b l e
(i.e., v = 0.5) l i n e a r m a t e r i a l can be obtained d i r e c t l y
f r o m the t h e o r y of e l a s t i c i t y (see M u s k h e l i s h v i l l i 3~ or
Savin sl and a r e

art

= P [4 (rP---)e - 3 (P)4 + 1] cos 20

CO0 = p [ 3 ( P ) 4 -

1] COS 20

[1]
[2]

trzz : P 2 ( P f c o s 2 0

[3]

Crro=P[2~)2-3(P)4-1]

sin20

[4]

where p is the b o u n d a r y s h e a r t r a c t i o n and p the r a d i u s

of the c y l i n d e r . The i n t e r r a c i a l t e n s i l e s t r e s s e s and
s h e a r s t r a i n s a r o u n d the i n c l u s i o n a r e plotted in Fig. 5
as a function of the angle 0. We see that the t e n s i l e
s t r e s s is m a x i m i z e d at ~ = 0 and is equal to 2 t i m e s the
b o u n d a r y s h e a r t r a c t i o n . S i m i l a r l y the i n t e r r a c i a l s h e a r
s t r a i n is m a x i m i z e d at 0 = 45 deg and is also equal to
twice the d i s t a n t b o u n d a r y s h e a r s t r a i n .
METALLURGICAL TRANSACTIONS A

2.0

0
0

oo
O0
0

(1971)

8
"~x ~ r T o ~ d - B ~ : n

. . . . .

(1973,
I.O

o%o

UJ

o
0.7

Experimental
Elastic - Plastic
non - hardening

o.8

o.9

I.o

I. I

L2

----

)'oo/~-y

Fig. 4--Change of maximum interfacial tensile stress with increasing boundary strain in non-hardening material. Solutions
of others are also shown for comparison.

2 r"--,..

Linear

I0

r/p

Fig. 6--The distribution of principal total strain exx parallel

to the tension direction for the elastic, non-hardening plastic
material, the linear incompressible material, and experimental measurements on a model copper specimen with a hardened cylindrical Cu-Be "inclusion".
s t r a i n s a r e a g a i n n o r m a l i z e d with the d i s t a n t s t r a i n
EXX ~ "

If the d i s t a n t d e f o r m a t i o n f i e l d w e r e not p u r e s h e a r
but had a n e g a t i v e p r e s s u r e c o m p o n e n t aT, t h i s n e g a t i v e
p r e s s u r e would have to be added to the p l a s t i c d r a g induced i n t e r f a c i a l s t r e s s e s c o m p u t e d b y the two l i m i t i n g
s o l u t i o n s d i s c u s s e d above. Thus, b a s e d on Rhee and
M c C l i n t o c k ' s h y p o t h e s i s the a c t u a l i n t e r r a c i a l s t r e s s e s
could now be bounded a s

O'rr/P

~ k < _ a r t - a T < 2k

)'Or / Yoo
-I

-2--

~
i

4 5 o

I
90 o

O
Fig. 5--Distribution of interfacial tensile stress and shear
strain around a rigid particle in an incompressible linear
matrix.

F i g . 6 shows the d i s t r i b u t i o n of the t o t a l p r i n c i p a l

s t r a i n exx o u t s i d e the i n c l u s i o n for the two bounding
s o l u t i o n s , in units of the t o t a l d i s t a n t s t r a i n . The s o l i d
c u r v e r e p r e s e n t s the d i s t r i b u t i o n o b t a i n e d f r o m the final
i n c r e m e n t in the finite e l e m e n t a n a l y s i s , while the b r o ken c u r v e i s c o m p u t e d f r o m E q s . [1] and [2] b y m e a n s
of the e l a s t i c s t r e s s s t r a i n r e l a t i o n s , in which the l o c a l
METALLURGICAL TRANSACTIONS A

[5]

w h e r e the left hand bound is f o r the n o n - h a r d e n i n g i d e a l i z a t i o n while the r i g h t hand bound is for the l i n e a r i d e a l i z a t i o n w h e r e k is c o n s i d e r e d a s the flow stress in s h e a r .
If Huang's s o l u t i o n s f o r the R a m b e r g - O s g o o d m a t e r i a l
with p o w e r - l a w h a r d e n i n g w e r e to b e e x t r a p o l a t e d to
n o n - h a r d e n i n g b e h a v i o r and w e r e t a k e n for the l o w e r
l i m i t it m a y b e a s low a s k. Since for m o s t of the s t r a i n
h a r d e n i n g b e h a v i o r of i n t e r e s t , i.e., f o r the e x p o n e n t s n
b e t w e e n 2 and 8, Huang's s o l u t i o n s e i t h e r f a l l s l i g h t l y
below the l o w e r l i m i t o r b e t w e e n the l i m i t s , we will t a k e
the above l i m i t s a s bounds f o r the p l a s t i c d r a g induced
i n t e r f a c i a l t e n s i l e s t r e s s . Since t h e s e l i m i t s a r e r a t h e r
c l o s e t o g e t h e r and s i n c e t h e i r m e a n v a l u e of 1.75k is
v e r y n e a r l y the flow s t r e s s in t e n s i o n , Y, we t a k e for
the t o t a l i n t e r f a c i a l t e n s i l e s t r e s s

arr ~- Y(gP) + a T
[6]
w h e r e Y(~P) is the flow s t r e s s in the r e g i o n of the i n c l u s i o n for the a v e r a g e l o c a l p l a s t i c s t r a i n of the r e g i o n ,
had the i n c l u s i o n not b e e n p r e s e n t .
I~q. [6] shows that the i n t e r r a c i a l s t r e s s will i n c r e a s e
with s t r a i n h a r d e n i n g and with t r i a x i a l i t y . Both of t h e s e
e f f e c t s a r e known to r e d u c e d u c t i l i t y and hence, m o s t
l i k e l y , a l s o p r o m o t e c a v i t y f o r m a t i o n . The above c o n tinuum a n a l y s i s for an i s o l a t e d i n c l u s i o n p r e d i c t s an
i n t e r f a c i a l s t r e s s d e p e n d e n t o n l y on the s u r r o u n d i n g
s t r a i n s t a t e and n e g a t i v e p r e s s u r e b u t not on the s i z e
VOLUME 6A, APRIL 1975-829

U =0

du
>,,
Y

x
>-

o]

__

>-Y

_
X "ks

yp

Ax x"

y
y

Particle

.__2._I Z rr

Y
x

Interface

y,

cr

~
u=

~(

YP
2

(a)
(a)

(b)

(c)

-TJ

Fig. 7--Ashby's model of the production of a secondary plastic zone to dissipate the elastic shear stresses arising from
the interfacial displacement incompatibility upon plastic
straining of the matrix.

rp

of the p a r t i c l e . We will s e e below that the p a r t i c l e s i z e

e f f e c t s a r e a r e s u l t of p a r t i c l e i n t e r a c t i o n s which o c c u r
at l a r g e l o c a l s e c o n d p h a s e c o n c e n t r a t i o n s and at l a r g e
plastic strains.
1.3 C r i t i c a l S t r e s s C r i t e r i a B a s e d on
D i s l o c a t i o n Models
In a study of enhanced w o r k h a r d e n i n g due to n o n - d e f o r m a b l e i n c l u s i o n s Ashby 14 p r o p o s e d a p l a s t i c a c c o m modation m o d e l of d i s p l a c e m e n t i n c o m p a t i b i l i t i e s which
d e v e l o p b e t w e e n a h o m o g e n e o u s l y s h e a r i n g continuum
and a r i g i d i n c l u s i o n . T h i s m o d e l which is p a r t i c u l a r l y
useful in the u n d e r s t a n d i n g of i n c l u s i o n i n t e r a c t i o n s is
b a s e d on E s h e l b y ' s 32 a p p r o a c h f o r c o n s i d e r i n g t r a n s f o r m a t i o n p r o b l e m s . It is i l l u s t r a t e d in Fig. 7. In a thought
e x p e r i m e n t the n o n - d e f o r m a b l e s p h e r i c a l i n c lu si o n of
r a d i u s p shown in Fig. 7(a) is r e m o v e d and r e p l a c e d by
a s p h e r e of p a r e n t m a t e r i a l . The continuum is p l a s t i c ally s h e a r e d by an amount V which d i s t o r t s the s p h e r e
of p a r e n t m a t e r i a l into an e l l i p s o i d as shown in Fig.
7(b). The d i s t o r t e d e l l i p s o i d is now r e m o v e d and the
n o n - d e f o r m a b l e s p h e r e is to be r e - i n s e r t e d . This r e q u i r e s the e l i m i n a t i o n of the d i s p l a c e m e n t i n c o m p a t i b i l i t i e s of a m a x i m u m amoung of y p / 2 . F o r s m a l l s h e a r
s t r a i n s such i n c o m p a t i b i l i t i e s could be a c c o m m o d a t e d
in the m a t r i x by l o c a l e l a s t i c d e f o r m a t i o n . If the i n c l u sion is v e r y s m a l l and if the s u r r o u n d i n g m a t e r i a l l a c k s
o p e r a b l e d i s l o c a t i o n s o u r c e s the e l a s t i c s t r e s s e s could
r i s e until the i d ea l s h e a r s t r e n g t h is r e a c h e d at the i n t e r f a c e and d i s l o c a t i o n loops a r e punched out to f o r m a
p l a s t i c a c c o m m o d a t i o n zone shown in Fig. 7(c). This
p l a s t i c a c c o m m o d a t i o n zone r e d u c e s the s h e a r s t r e s s e s
around the i n c l u s i o n . The i n t e r f a c i a l n o r m a l s t r e s s e s ,
h o w e v e r , continue to r i s e to f o r m a c a v i t y a c r o s s the
p r i n c i p a l t e n s i l e d i r e c t i o n when the i n t e r f a c i a l s t r e s s
r e a c h e s the i n t e r f a c i a l s t r e n g t h . Although t h i s m o d e l
is not a f u l l y a c c e p t a b l e upper bound flow field f o r the
r e a s o n s a l r e a d y given above, it is s i m p l e and lends i t s e l f to the i n c o r p o r a t i o n of m a n y i m p o r t a n t d e t a i l s .
T h e r e f o r e , we will d e v e l o p it f u r t h e r .
We a s s u m e , t o g e t h e r with Ashby, that the ideal s h e a r
s t r e n g t h is r e a c h e d at the i n t e r f a c e b e f o r e the i d eal co h e s i v e s t r e n g t h of the i n t e r f a c e (Kelly, Tyson, and
Cottrel133 have d i s c u s s e d the a t o m i c bonding r e q u i r e 830 VOLUME 6A, APRIL 1975

(b)

Fig. 8--(a) Idealization of the cylindrical plastic punching by

a cylinder elastically or plastically extended in a rigid cavity
against wall friction; (b) Plastic punching between two interacting particles.
m e n t s in d i f f e r e n t m a t e r i a l s f o r this condition to be
s a t i s f i e d ) and that c i r c u l a r loops a r e punched out and
m o v e d away f r o m the s p h e r i c a l i n c l u s i o n a g a i n s t an
e f f e c t i v e s h e a r d r a g k s . We s i m p l i f y the p r o b l e m by
c o n s i d e r i n g the d i s l o c a t i o n loops as a c o n t i n u o u s l y d i s t r i b u t e d d i s l o c a t i o n d e n s i t y and i d e a l i z e the m o d e l as a
c y l i n d r i c a l punch indenting an e l a s t i c - p l a s t i c c y l i n d e r
e i t h e r into o r out of a c y l i n d r i c a l hole in a r i g i d s e m i infinite m e d i u m a g a i n s t a wall f r i c t i o n a l d r a g of amount
k s which can be taken as the c r i t i c a l r e s o l v e d s h e a r
s t r e s s of yielding of a s i n g l e c r y s t a l , as shown in Fig.
8(a). We find it n e c e s s a r y to d i s t i n g u i s h a n u m b e r of
important alternatives.
a) V e r y s m a l l s p h e r i c a l i n c l u s i o n s (p ~< 100/~): The
i d e a l i z e d m o d e l is as shown in Fig. 8(a). The c y l i n d e r
of r a d i u s p / v ~ is e x t r a c t e d o u t w ar d (punched outward)
by i n t e r f a c i a l n o r m a l s u r f a c e t r a c t i o n s ~ r r a g a i n s t only
a wall f r i c t i o n , it contains no d i s l o c a t i o n s inside, h e n c e
is i n cap ab l e of u n d e r g o i n g i n t e r n a l p l a s t i c r e l a x a t i o n . *
*The radii of the cylindricalsecondary plastic zones are chosen to be p/x/2 to
have their intersectionswith the spherical inclusiontake place where both the
shear traction o,~ and the shear stress Oxy is maximizedon the circumference.
The n o r m a l s t r e s s e s b e c o m e d i s s i p a t e d by the wall f r i c tion k s o v e r a length k/2 which we t e r m the s e c o n d a r y
p l a s t i c z o n e . Choosing c o o r d i n a t e s x as shown in Fig.
8(a) the d i f f e r e n t i a l equation f o r the change of the n o r m a l s t r e s s along the c y l i n d e r is

da
dx

2r

_- 0

[7]

METALLURGICAL TRANSACTIONS A

where

16

d~
E

[8]

dx

14

The b o u n d a r y conditions a r e u = d u / d x = 0 at x = 0 (i.e.,

a = 0, at x = 0). which gives i m m e d i a t e l y
2q-2k s

[9]

12

The extent of the s e c o n d a r y p l a s t i c zone is obtained

f r o m the d i s p l a c e m e n t i n c o m p a t i b i l i t y at the i n t e r f a c e ,
i . e . , u = y p / 2 at x = ~/2, and is
~

=On/
yE
W2~kj

I0

[101

This gives f i n a l l y the i n t e r f a c i a l t e n s i l e s t r e s s at x

= X/2 as
(~rr = k0

ry

'

[11]

where the f i r s t t e r m r e p r e s e n t s the c o n t r i b u t i o n of the

d i s t a n t field and the second t e r m the i n t e r f a c i a l s t r e s s
due to the s e c o n d a r y p l a s t i c zone. In Eq. [11] k o is the
yield s t r e s s in s h e a r of the p o l y c r y s t a l and m the well
known T a y l o r f a c t o r , i . e . , k o / k s = r n / ~ f 3 , where m is
g e n e r a l l y taken as 3.1. This s t r e s s is again i n d e p e n dent of size of the i n c l u s i o n but i n c r e a s e s r e l a t i v e l y
r a p i d l y with i n c r e a s i n g p l a s t i c s t r a i n as shown in Fig.
9. A cavity would f o r m a f t e r a c r i t i c a l p l a s t i c s t r a i n
7c when the i n t e r r a c i a l s t r e s s equals the i n t e r f a c i a I
s t r e n g t h ~i, i . e . , when

I.

I0

20
ylyy

yc

":

- 1).

O:-g-

I1,,]

As d i s c u s s e d in Sec. 1.1 r e a c h i n g the i n t e r f a c i a l

s t r e n g t h is n e c e s s a r y but not sufficient for c a v i t y f o r m a t i o n . The l a t t e r r e q u i r e s also that t h e r e be enough
e l a s t i c e n e r g y s t o r e d in the r e g i o n to provide for the
e n e r g y of the f r e e s u r f a c e s , i . e . , the r a t i o
(~ - ~ i ) fro~
f l ( aa "](2rrp3"~

<1

[13]

where the n u m e r a t o r is the s u r f a c e e n e r g y of the c a v ity and the d e n o m i n a t o r the e l a s t i c e n e r g y that can b e
r e l e a s e d b y a cavity. In Eq. [13] ~ is the s u r f a c e f r e e
e n e r g y of the cavity, ~i the i n t e r f a c i a l e n e r g y , and the
factor fi of the o r d e r 0.5 is to account for the s h a r p l y
d e c r e a s i n g t e n s i l e s t r e s s away f r o m the i n t e r f a c e .
C o n s i d e r i n g that (~ - ~ i ) ~ ~ i b / 4 (where b is a l a t t i c e
d i m e n s i o n ) , and that a i / E ~ 0.1 one finds that c a v i t i e s
can only open up when
-

p
3
b > 2
-

E
o"i
-

15.

[141

F o r weaker i n t e r f a c e s the c r i t i c a l s i z e i n c r e a s e s . F o r
s m a l l e r i n c l u s i o n s stable c a v i t i e s cannot f o r m s p o n t a n e o u s l y : upon r e a c h i n g of the i n t e r r a c i a l s t r e n g t h the
s m a l l i n c l u s i o n will s e p a r a t e f r o m the m a t r i x a c e r t a i n
d i s t a n c e of a t o m i c d i m e n s i o n s to r e l i e v e p a r t of the
e l a s t i c e n e r g y , but long r a n g e f o r c e s will s t i l l act
a c r o s s the i n t e r f a c e . As a l r e a d y m e n t i o n e d above, as
s t r a i n i n g continues and the d i s p l a c e m e n t i n c o m p a t i b i l ity b e t w e e n m a t r i x and i n c l u s i o n s i n c r e a s e s , the i n METALLURGICALTRANSACTIONSA

50

40

50

Fig. 9--Change of interfacial s t r e s s with increasing distant

plastic strain for an elastic plug and a plastic, strain hardening plug.

c l u s i o n can s t i l l be slowly s e p a r a t e d f r o m the m a t r i x

in a g r a d u a l and stable m a n n e r . In s o m e c a s e s the i n c l u s i o n s m a y only be v e r y p o o r l y a d h e r e d to the m a t r i x , and it can be a s s u m e d that ~i ~ 0. Then the t e n s i l e i n c o m p a t i b i l i t y can be a c c o m m o d a t e d at the i n t e r face f r o m the b e g i n n i n g b y the f o r m a t i o n of a cavity
without punching out any s e c o n d a r y p l a s t i c zone.
To m e e t the condition given in E q. [14] the i n c l u s i o n
m u s t have a d i a m e t e r of 75 to 100A or o v e r . F o r s i g n i f i c a n t l y l a r g e r i n c l u s i o n s it b e c o m e s m o r e and m o r e
l i k e l y that some r e t a i n e d p r i m a r y d i s l o c a t i o n s tangled
a r o u n d the i n c l u s i o n act as s o u r c e s and that the punched
c y l i n d e r can undergo i n t e r n a l p l a s t i c r e l a x a t i o n as well.
b) L a r g e s p h e r i c a l i n c l u s i o n s (p >> 100A): With i n t e r n a l p l a s t i c r e l a x a t i o n inside the punched c y l i n d e r
the i d e a l i z e d model is s t i l l as shown in Fig. 8(a), giving r i s e to the s a m e d i f f e r e n t i a l equation for the change
in the n o r m a l s t r e s s ~ by Eq. [7]. The s t r e s s - s t r a i n
law now is n o n - l i n e a r and m a y be taken as
E =~

,y

,y

du = (~7--~)a
,n

dx

"o"

[lS]

where Ey and Yo a r e the yield s t r a i n and yield s t r e s s

in t e n s i o n r e s p e c t i v e l y , and where the exponent n can
be anywhere f r o m 2 to 8 r e p r e s e n t i n g d e c r e a s i n g c a p a c i t i e s for s t r a i n h a r d e n i n g .
The s o l u t i o n of Eq. [7] together with the new nonVOLUME 6A, APRIL 1975-831

l i n e a r c o n s t i t u t i v e law, and the s a m e b o u n d a r y conditions as b e f o r e can be obtained r e a d i l y a n a l y t i c a l l y for

any exponent n and l e a d s to (see Appendix)

~r, = ko

+ 4~ (

Yy

[16]

where again the f i r s t t e r m r e p r e s e n t s the c o n t r i b u t i o n

of the d i s t a n t field. The s e c o n d a r y p l a s t i c zone now
becomes

"2 = P 2,r

yy

"

[17]

The i n c r e a s e of s t r e s s with p l a s t i c s t r a i n due to

punching of the s e c o n d a r y p l a s t i c zone is now c o n s i d e r a b l y s l o w e r than in the p r e v i o u s case where p l a s t i c
r e l a x a t i o n i n s i d e the punched out c y l i n d e r was not p o s sible. Fig. 9 shows the r i s e of the p o r t i o n of the i n t e r facial s t r e s s r e s u l t i n g f r o m the punching of the s e c o n d a r y p l a s t i c zone for the case without r e l a x a t i o n and
one where the h a r d e n i n g exponent n = 2.5 c o r r e s p o n d ing to copper. As the s t r a i n h a r d e n i n g r a t e b e c o m e s
l e s s with i n c r e a s i n g exponents n, t h e r a t e of r i s e due
to this component would b e c o m e p r o g r e s s i v e l y l e s s .
It is of i n t e r e s t to c o m p a r e the above solution for
the d i s l o c a t i o n loop punching model with the c o n t i n u um solution. When the h a r d e n i n g r a t e d e c r e a s e s as
n ~ oo the i n t e r f a c i a l s t r e s s c o n c e n t r a t i o n goes a s y m p t o t i c a l l y to
lim (r

= 1 +

--

.F

[18]

This value is 89 pet higher than the lower l i m i t given

in Eq. [6] to which it should c o r r e s p o n d . Although this
solution is not to be p r e f e r r e d to the continuum s o l u tion d i s c u s s e d in the p r e c e d i n g section, it gives a r e sult well within a f a c t o r of 2 of the l a t t e r , and will be
useful to i n v e s t i g a t e effects of i n c l u s i o n i n t e r a c t i o n .
c) I n t e r a c t i n g I n c l u s i o n s : Many i n v e s t i g a t o r s have
r e p o r t e d that in a given s a m p l e l a r g e i n c l u s i o n s appear
to p r o d u c e c a v i t i e s s o o n e r than s m a l l o n e s - - a p a r t i c u l a r l y well r e p o r t e d case b e i n g that of P a l m e r and
Smith./9 Some of the p r e v i o u s e x p l a n a t i o n s of this effect appear to be e r r o n e o u s such as for i n s t a n c e the
e n e r g y explanation of G u r l a n d and P l a t e a u ~ which
was d i s c u s s e d above to be only a n e c e s s a r y condition
for cavitation. The e x p l a n a t i o n advanced b y P a l m e r
and Smith that l a r g e i n c l u s i o n s m a y act as m o r e eff i c i e n t s i n k s for e m b r i t t l i n g i m p u r i t i e s could c e r t a i n l y
be valid but cannot l i k e l y be r e s p o n s i b l e for this phen o m e n o n in all c a s e s . It is r e a s o n a b l e to expect that
the effect m a y have its o r i g i n in i n t e r a c t i o n b e t w e e n
i n c l u s i o n s . F r o m d i m e n s i o n a l a n a l y s i s it is c l e a r that
the s t r e s s c o n c e n t r a t i o n cannot be dependent on i n c l u sion s i z e for the case of an i s o l a t e d l a r g e i n c l u s i o n
( s u r f a c e e n e r g y r e s t r i c t i o n s being u n i m p o r t a n t ) in an
infinite m e d i u m where t h e r e is only one length d i m e n sion. When i n c l u s i o n s a r e in v e r y finite m e d i a or when
m a n y i n c l u s i o n s a r e p r e s e n t in a body so that t h e i r
spacing b e c o m e s of the o r d e r of t h e i r d i a m e t e r a new
length p a r a m e t e r a p p e a r s in the a n a l y s i s . It can be
r e a d i l y seen, however, that even in this case the s t r e s s
c o n c e n t r a t i o n will be dependent only on the r a t i o of i n c l u s i o n size to spacing. If all i n c l u s i o n s a r e of the
s a m e size this would make the s t r e s s c o n c e n t r a t i o n
832-VOLUME 6A, APRIL 1973

dependent only on the v o l u m e f r a c t i o n of second phase

but not d i r e c t l y on the i n c l u s i o n size. It is c l e a r , t h e r e fore, that an i n c l u s i o n s i z e dependence of the s t r e s s
c o n c e n t r a t i o n can o c c u r , at a given v o l u m e f r a c t i o n of
second phase, only if local v a r i a t i o n s of v o l u m e f r a c tion exist, m a k i n g it p o s s i b l e for some l a r g e r than
a v e r a g e i n c l u s i o n s to be n e a r n e i g h b o r s at a s p a c i n g
equal to or s m a l l e r than the a v e r a g e spacing. The s i t uation is sketched out in Fig. 8(b) where the r a t i o of
the net p a r t i c l e d i s t a n c e to the p a r t i c l e size is given
b y the local v o l u m e f r a c t i o n c of second phase. Ass u m i n g that the i n t e r i o r of the punched c y l i n d e r of the
s e c o n d a r y p l a s t i c zone can undergo p l a s t i c r e l a x a t i o n
as in the p r e v i o u s case so that a c o n s t i t u t i v e equation
of the type given in Eq. [15] is valid, the i n t e r f a c i a l
t e n s i l e s t r e s s can be c a l c u l a t e d a n a l y t i c a l l y for a fixed
p / ~ by the p r e v i o u s l y outlined approach only for an e x ponent of n = 2 (see Appendix). A much s i m p l e r a p p r o x i m a t e method can be used, however, to obtain the i n t e r f a c i a l s t r e s s for any exponent n by b r e a k i n g down the
c o n t r i b u t i o n s to the i n t e r f a c i a l s t r e s s into t h r e e
s o u r c e s : a) the s t r a i n h a r d e n i n g c o n t r i b u t i o n r e s u l t i n g
f r o m the e x t e n s i o n of the c y l i n d r i c a l zone as if it were
an i s o l a t e d t e n s i o n s p e c i m e n , b) the p l a s t i c d r a g cont r i b u t i o n r i s i n g l i n e a r l y f r o m the c e n t e r of the c y l i n d e r
to the i n t e r f a c e , and c) the c o n t r i b u t i o n of the d i s t a n t
flow s t r e s s . This gives for the i n t e r f a c i a l s t r e s s

(see Appendix), where the well known e x p r e s s i o n (see,

Brown and E m b u r y 34) for the r a t i o of the net p a r ticle s p a c i n g to p a r t i c l e r a d i u s in a plane
e.g.,

was used for a local v o l u m e f r a c t i o n c of second phase.

The change of the i n t e r f a c i a l s t r e s s with i n c r e a s i n g
p l a s t i c s t r a i n is plotted in F i g s . 10(a), and 10(b) for
two v a l u e s of n r e p r e s e n t i n g those for copper (n = 2.5)
and steel, (n = 4) and for a v a r i e t y of v a l u e s of the v o l ume f r a c t i o n c. As can be s e e n f r o m the f i g u r e for
s m a l l volume f r a c t i o n s t h e r e is no i n t e r a c t i o n b e t w e e n
inclusions.
We now c o n s i d e r f i r s t that all p a r t i c l e s a r e of cons t a n t size but a r e d i s t r i b u t e d r a n d o m l y in space or on
any p l a n a r s e c t i o n . If the a r e a allocated per p a r t i c l e
is a, then the p r o b a b i l i t y of finding n p a r t i c l e s in an
a r e a of size A is given b y a P o i s s o n d i s t r i b u t i o n as
P (n, a)

1 (A~ n
A
~-. \ ~ - / exp ( - ~-)"

[21]

C o n s i d e r i n g that the chosen a r e a A together with n

c o r r e s p o n d s to a new v o l u m e f r a c t i o n
c-

nTrp

[22]

A
for a p a r t i c l e r a d i u s of p, we can obtain r e a d i l y the
METALLURGICAL TRANSACTIONS A

60

n o n - i n t e g e r l o c a l v o l u m e f r a c t i o n b e t w e e n c and c + dc
we m e r e l y let n = c//~ b e c o m e a continuous v a r i a b l e
by i n t r o d u c i n g the g a m m a function to o b t a i n

c=0.3

50-

dP ( c / ~ =

4O

=Ot
=0.0~
= 0,03

c) " I ,1

n = c

This l e a d s f i n a l l y to the p r o b a b i l i t y of having a l o c a l

v o l u m e f r a c t i o n v a r i a t i o n equal to o r g r e a t e r than c a s ,

2 30
b

(w h e r e

~dn/F(n + 1)
f d n l r ( n + 1)

f dn/F (n + 1)
1 - P (c/g) = c/~

2O

= 0.4412

f d n / r (n + 1)

c/e

[25]
I0

0
0

200

400

600

800

I000 1200

u165
(a)
20

18

c=0.3
c --0.2
c=O.I

16
14

w h e r e t h e i n t e g r a l s in t h e n u m e r a t o r and d e n o m i n a t o r
a r e the i n c o m p l e t e and c o m p l e t e N e u m a n n functions
which can be r e a d i l y e v a l u a t e d ( s e e E. H. E r d e l y i ,
e t al. 35)
This p r o b a b i l i t y is p l o t t e d in Fig. I i a s a function
of the v o l u m e f r a c t i o n r a t i o c/~. To find the d e p e n d e n c e of the p l a s t i c s t r a i n on the l o c a l v o l u m e f r a c t i o n
of s e c o n d p h a s e we equate the i n t e r f a c i a l s t r e s s in Eq.
[19] to the i n t e r f a c i a l s t r e n g t h ~i. With i n c r e a s i n g
p l a s t i c s t r a i n 7, the s e p a r a t i o n condition is r e a c h e d
f i r s t for c l o s e l y s p a c e d l a r g e i n c l u s i o n s ( l a r g e l o c a l
v o l u m e f r a c t i o n of s e c o n d phase) followed b y i n c l u s i o n s with d e c r e a s i n g s i z e and i n c r e a s i n g s p a c i n g .
The f r a c t i o n f of the s e p a r a t e d i n c l u s i o n s of the t o t a l
population is then given d i r e c t l y b y the c u m u l a t i v e
p r o b a b i l i t y of finding r e g i o n s of l o c a l v o l u m e f r a c t i o n
having a v a l u e in e x c e s s of that for which the c u r r e n t
p l a s t i c s t r a i n is s u f f i c i e n t for c a v i t y f o r m a t i o n , i.e.,

f(7) = 1 - P ( c / c - ) = 1 - P (ci(7)/c--).

[26]

12
b

I01

n=4

200

400

600

800

The a p p l i c a t i o n of t h i s a p p r o a c h to i n c l u s i o n s in
s t e e l and c o p p e r is d i s c u s s e d in the a c c o m p a n y i n g
p a p e r b y A r g o n and Im. TM
F i n a l l y , it is of i n t e r e s t to p r e s c r i b e when i n c l u s i o n s can b e c o n s i d e r e d n o n - i n t e r a c t i n g , and when
t h e i r i n t e r a c t i o n m u s t be t a k e n into account. I n t e r a c tion b e t w e e n p a r t i c l e s o c c u r when the s e c o n d a r y p l a s t i c z o n e s of n e i g h b o r i n g p a r t i c l e s in the plane of
punching touch, i.e., when ~ / p of Eq. [17] e q u a l s that
of Eq. [20]. T h i s g i v e s a c r i t i c a l s t r a i n r a t i o
( 7 / ~ y ) c r i t . above which i n t e r a c t i o n s m u s t be c o n sidered.

IO00 1200

)'/)'y
(b)
Fig. 10--Dependence of interracial s t r e s s on local volume
fraction of second phase particles, (a) for copper, n = 2.5, (b)
for 1045 steel, n = 4.

1,

The d e p e n d e n c e of t h i s c r i t i c a l s t r a i n on the v o l u m e
f r a c t i o n of s e c o n d p h a s e i s shown in F i g . 12 f o r two
strain hardening exponents.
2. E X P E R I M E N T

p r o b a b i l i t y f o r finding a l o c a l v o l u m e f r a c t i o n c in
integer m u l t i p l e s of the a v e r a g e v o l u m e f r a c t i o n E
b y l e t t i n g the a r e a A go to a, i.e.,
1

P(C/C-): e

(c)''

:0,

1, 2 , 3 . . . )

[23]

To o b t a i n the p r o b a b i l i t y for finding any a r b i t r a r y

METALLURGICAL TRANSACTIONS A

A d i r e c t e x p e r i m e n t a l v e r i f i c a t i o n of the a p p r o x i m a t e
a n a l y s e s p r e s e n t e d above was found d e s i r a b l e . Since no
m e a n i n g f u l and r e l i a b l e m e t h o d of d i r e c t i n t e r f a c i a l
s t r e s s m e a s u r e m e n t could be c o n c e i v e d , it was c o n s i d e r e d useful to m e a s u r e the p l a s t i c s t r a i n d i s t r i b u t i o n
a r o u n d n o n - d e f o r m i n g i n c l u s i o n s to c o m p a r e t h e m
with the s t r a i n d i s t r i b u t i o n s o b t a i n e d f o r the l i m i t i n g
VOLUME 6A, APRIL 1975--833

102

1.0

\
Interacting

16

I0

I0
I0
U
v

Q.
I

n:2.5

i0-1

16 z _ _

Non-interacting \
n =4\

i0 -2
0.01

10 4 _ _

I
O. I

1.0

c
Fig. 12--The dependence of the critical strain ratio for particle interactions as a function of local volume fraction of
second phase for two hardening exponents.

16 5

0.1

t
1.0

c/(T
Fig. ll--Probability (1 - P ( c / E ) ) of finding a local volume
fraction of second phase particles in excess of c, when the
overall average is c.
n o n - h a r d e n i n g and l i n e a r b e h a v i o r s plotted in Fig. 6.
To do this, a m o d e l e x p e r i m e n t was d e s i g n e d in which
the p l a s t i c s t r a i n d i s t r i b u t i o n in a soft c o p p e r m a t r i x
could be m e a s u r e d a r o u n d a h a r d e n e d c y l i n d r i c a l c o p p e r - b e r y l l i u m i n c l u s i o n which could be heat t r e a t e d to
have a yield s t r e n g t h about 10 t i m e s that of the c o p p e r
m a t r i x . The m o d e l s p e c i m e n was p r e p a r e d by d r i l l i n g
a c e n t r a l 0.25 in. hole a l m o s t through a 2.5 in. diam
OFHC c o p p e r c y l i n d e r . T h i s p i e c e t o g e t h e r with a
g r a p h i t e funnel containing an amount of c a s t a b l e c h a r g e
of C u - B e a l l o y was p l a c e d into a v a c u u m f u r n a c e w h e r e
the s p e c i m e n and the inside of the d r i l l e d IDle was e v a p o r a t i o n - c l e a n e d by m a i n t a i n i n g the a s s e m b l y 100~ b e low the s o l i d u s point of the a ll o y f o r 45 min. The t e m p e r a t u r e was then r a i s e d to c a s t the c h a r g e in place.
After this the s p e c i m e n was c o o l e d to 800~ and m a i n tained t h e r e f o r two h to h o m o g e n i z e the alloy followed
834-VOLUME 6A, APRIL 1975

by quenching and t e m p e r i n g at 300~ f o r two h to obtain

peak h a r d n e s s . The c y l i n d r i c a l b a r with the C u - B e c o r e
was then m a c h i n e d into two 1.75 in. s q u a r e b l o c k s of 1.5
in. t h i c k n e s s with the c y l i n d r i c a l c o r e r u n n i n g along the
s h o r t length and through the c e n t e r of the s q u a r e f a c e s .
All f a c e s of the b l o c k s w e r e then p o l i s h e d and one of the
s q u a r e f a c e s was p r o v i d e d with a fine, s c r a t c h e d
s q u a r e g r i d of 0.017 in. s p a c i n g r u n n i n g p a r a l l e l to
the e d g e s of the block. The two b l o c k s w e r e then put
t o g e t h e r f a c e to f a c e so that the g r i d r e m a i n e d b e t w een the b l o c k s . The p a i r w e r e then c o m p r e s s e d
10 pct in a plane s t r a i n c o m p r e s s i o n jig as shown in
Fig. 13. The c o m p r e s s i o n f a c e s and the two out s i de
f a c e s touching the jig w e r e coated with a MoSs s p r a y
to r e d u c e f r i c t i o n . This p r e v e n t e d b a r e l l i n g of the
s p e c i m e n . A f t er c o m p r e s s i o n the b l o c k s w e r e r e m o v e d f r o m the jig, taken a p a r t to r e v e a l the i n t e r nal g r i d , which was then m e a s u r e d to c o m p u t e the
d i s t r i b u t i o n of the l a t e r a l s t r a i n p a r a l l e l to the p r i n cipal e x t e n s i o n d i r e c t i o n . This d i s t r i b u t i o n of the
m e a s u r e d n o r m a l s t r a i n s is shown in Fig. 6 f o r c o m p a r i s o n with the t h e o r e t i c a l l y d e t e r m i n e d bounds f o r
the s t r a i n d i s t r i b u t i o n . The a c t u a l m e a s u r e d s t r a i n s
a r e g r e a t e r than the p l a s t i c s t r a i n s n e a r the i n c l u s i o n
but b e c o m e s m a l l e r than the p l a s t i c s t r a i n s at g r e a t e r
METALLURGICAL TRANSACTIONS A

Confining

Beryllium
copper
cylinder

Fig. 13--Experimental arrangement for determining local

iolastie strains in a copper block with a hardened, cylindrical Cu-Be "inclusion".
d i s t a n c e s . Since the i n c l u s i o n was not r i g i d but a c t u ally had a f a i r l y high c o m p l i a n c e and showed s i g n s of
some p l a s t i c s t r a i n i n g t h e s e d e p a r t u r e s f r o m expected
b e h a v i o r a r e c o n s i d e r e d not s u r p r i s i n g . In any event
the e x p e r i m e n t a l d i s t r i b u t i o n lies n e a r e r to the p l a s tic n o n - h a r d e n i n g solution than to the l i n e a r solution.
This lends support to the bounding a n a l y s i s d i s c u s s e d
in Sec. 1.2.
3. DISCUSSION
The various approximate analyses presented above
show that for very small inclusions where no local
diffuse plastic relaxation is possible because of the
complete absence of dislocations in the surroundings,
the shear stresses on the inclusion interface can be
relieved by punchingout dislocation loops as suggested
by Ashby.I~ This cannot relieve the interfacial tensile
stresses which may reach the interfacial strength.
When the inclusion diam is less than about IOOAthere
is insufficient elastic energy stored in the surroundings
of the inclusion and cavities cannot form upon reaching
of the interfacial strength at the interface. Whenthe
inclusion diam exceeds this cut-off limit, stable cavities can form. In this range of increasingly larger inclusions, however, local plastic relaxations become
more and more likely and a continuumanalysis for the
stress concentrations becomes appropriate. All such
continuumanalyses give a rather mild stress concentration factor which for a pure shear mode of deformation is only of the order of ~/3, i.e., the interfacial
stress is of the order of the local equivalent flow
stress in tension, when the volume fraction of second
phase is small so that the secondary plastic zones of
particles do not touch, then the particles act in isolation and the interracial stress is independentof the
particle size but depends only on the local flow stress
and any local long range triaxial stress, when the volume fraction is large or when the shear strain is large
so that the secondary plastic zones of particles touch,
the particles interact. If the particles are of uniform
size and quasi-uniform spacing, the interfacial stress
becomes in addition to the plastic strain, dependent
also on the volume fraction of the second phase but remains still independentof the particle size, i.e., at
constant volume fraction any increase in particle size
is balanced by a proportional increase in particle

METALLURGICAL TRANSACTIONSA

spacing. The i n t e r r a c i a l s t r e s s b e c o m e s p a r t i c l e size

dependent only if t h e r e a r e s i g n i f i c a n t local v a r i a t i o n s
of v o l u m e f r a c t i o n of second phase f r o m point to point
for a given a v e r a g e second phase v o l u m e f r a c t i o n .
Such v a r i a t i o n s of v o l u m e f r a c t i o n a c t u a l l y e x i s t in
m a n y i n c l u s i o n b e a r i n g alloys and can account for the
often r e p o r t e d effects of p a r t i c l e s i z e on local s t r a i n
for cavity f o r m a t i o n in the case of n o n - d e f o r m a b l e i n c l u s i o n s . E x p e r i m e n t a l e v i d e n c e for such effects will
be p r e s e n t e d in the a c c o m p a n y i n g p a p e r b y Argon and
Ira. 18
The i n t e r a c t i o n of s e c o n d a r y p l a s t i c zones a r o u n d
p a r t i c l e s d i s c u s s e d h e r e is, however, not the only p o s sible e x p l a n a t i o n for p a r t i c l e size effects in void f o r mation. Cox and Low 36 have d i s c u s s e d other p o s s i b i l i ties for p l a s t i c a l l y d e f o r m a b l e i n c l u s i o n s and for b r i t tle, i n c l u s i o n s , having a v a r i a b i l i t y of s t r e n g t h b a s e d
on s t a t i s t i c a l l y d i s t r i b u t e d flaws.
We close with a note of caution that our a n a l y s i s applies only to n e a r l y n o n - d e f o r m a b l e , equiaxed i n c l u s i o n s . T h e r e f o r e the r e s u l t s m u s t not be applied i n d i s c r i m i n a t e l y to c a s e s of d e f o r m a b l e i n c l u s i o n s which
could p r e s e n t q u a l i t a t i v e l y d i f f e r e n t b e h a v i o r .

APPENDIX
A.I. interracial Stresses Around Large
Spherical inclusions
The first integral of the differential equation for the
normal stress along the secondary plastic zone (Eq.
[7]), gives
(r(x) = 2 f 2 - k s
P

x + C

[A-l]

where x is m e a s u r e d f r o m the end of the s e c o n d a r y

p l a s t i c zone. Using the n o n - l i n e a r c o n s t i t u t i v e e q u a tion of Eq. [15] gives

_ (2f2tesX

12

[A-2]

which when i n t e g r a t e d gives the d i s p l a c e m e n t u, also

m e a s u r e d f r o m the end of the s e c o n d a r y p l a s t i c zone
as

6yYoP
2 ( 2 - k s (n + 1)

u -

~n

[A-3]

+ D

where

2r

YoP

C
Yo

[A-4]

When x = 0, ~ = C / Y o and u = 0. This gives

[A-5]

The other boundary condition is that u =

x = X/2. This gives

yp
2

ev

YoP

[ ( "f2 k s A + C ,~,~
Y-~-

yp/2 when
C

n+l

2~/2ks~n+ l) L\

[A-6]
f r o m which the i n t e g r a t i o n c o n s t a n t C could be d e t e r VOLUME 6A, APRIL 1975-835

m i n e d as a function of the yet unknown extent of the

s e c o n d a r y p l a s t i c zone X/2. The s e c o n d a r y p l a s t i c
zone can then be obtained by s u b s t i t u t i n g C(~t/2) into
Eq. [ A - I ] and s e t t i n g e = 0 at x = 0. T h is , h o w e v e r ,
t e l l s i m m e d i a t e l y that C = 0, which can only be s a t i s fied if X is c h o s e n to s a t i s f y Eq. [A-6] f o r the s p e c i a l
v a l u e of C = 0. This g i v e s the e x t e n t of the s e c o n d a r y
p l a s t i c zone as
1

w h e r e m = d - 3 k o / k s and ey = 7y/X/3- was used in the

evaluation.
We now obtain the i n t e r f a c i a l s t r e s s due to the
punching out of the s e c o n d a r y p l a s t i c z o n e s as

i n t e r f a c i a l t e n s i l e s t r e s s and is the quantity in Eq.

[19].
An a n a l y t i c a l s o l u t i o n f o r the d i s l o c a t i o n loop punching c o m p o n e n t of the i n t e r f a c i a l s t r e s s , i . e . , c o m p o nents 1 and 2 above, can be obtained again r e a d i l y f or
n = 2, by s u b s t i t u t i n g Eq. [A-6] into Eq. [ A - l ] and l e t ting x = X/2. T h i s would g i v e the i n t e r f a c i a l s t r e s s as
a function of ;t/p which now, as shown in Fig. 8(b) is
g o v e r n e d by the l o c a l c o n c e n t r a t i o n of s e c o n d phase c.
The end r e s u l t is obtained r e a d i l y as

err

ko

+ -~-

\5/

e : k o q - ~- ( q - 6 ( n + 1 ) (

7 ))-~-

The d i s t a n t s t r e s s g o v e r n i n g the d i s t a n t p l a s t i c
s t r a i n will a l s o a p p e a r a c r o s s the b o u n d a r y and m u s t
be added to the above s t r e s s to obtain the t o t a l i n t e r f a c i a l s t r e s s . T h i s s t r e s s is k o ( 7 / ~ v ) l/n giving f o r
J
the t o t a l i n t e r f a c i a l t e n s i l e s t r e s s e r r finally,
e r r : ko

r<'Lx

~__)n + ( - 3
7y I

x / 6 ( n + 1)
m

)}

7 -~
7y

[A-9]

A.2. I n t e r a c t i n g I n c l u s i o n s
When the s e c o n d a r y p l a s t i c z o n e s of p a r t i c l e s touch
at l a r g e v o l u m e f r a c t i o n s of s e c o n d phase, or at l a r g e
p l a s t i c s t r a i n s , the i n t e r r a c i a l s t r e s s b e c o m e s d e p e n dent a l s o on the l o c a l v o l u m e f r a c t i o n of second phase.
F o r this c a s e a n a l y t i c a l s o l u t i o n s a r e difficult to o b tain and it is m o r e i n s t r u c t i v e to r e s o r t to a p p r o x i m a t e s o l u t i o n s . An a p p r o x i m a t e s o l u t i o n can be o b t a i n e d r e a d i l y by dividing the i n t e r f a c i a l s t r e s s up
into t h r e e p a r t s . The f i r s t c o n t r i b u t i o n to the i n t e r f a c i a l s t r e s s c o m e s f r o m c o n s i d e r i n g the c y l i n d r i c a l
i n t e r c o n n e c t i n g p l a s t i c zone b e t w e e n p a r t i c l e s as shown
in F i g . 8(b) as a r o u n d t e n s i l e b a r which has un d er g o n e
a p l a s t i c e x t e n s i o n a l s t r a i n of 7P/X which r e s u l t s in a
s t r e s s of
1

e,:

"\Ey /

-~y

I -,.11
w h e r e the s h e a r d r a g along the wall k s : q 3 - k o / m , can
be taken as the c r i t i c a l r e s o l v e d s h e a r s t r e s s f o r s l i p
in a s i n g l e c r y s t a l , which is the p o l y c r y s t a l yield
s t r e n g t h in s h e a r k o d iv id e d by the T a y l o r f a c t o r f o r
s h e a r , i.e., m / 4 - 3 = 3.1/q-3-.
The t h i r d c o n t r i b u t i o n c o m e s f r o m the b o u n d a r y
t r a c t i o n s g o v e r n i n g the d i s t a n t field. T h i s c o n t r i b u t i o n
is
1

[A-12]

The s u m of all t h r e e c o n t r i b u t i o n s g i v e s the t o t al

836-VOLUME6A, APRIL 1975

(a/o)3

where

0
is the r a t i o of the net d i s t a n c e in the plane of p l a s t i c
punching to the r a d i u s of the p a r t i c l e .
F o r o t h e r n v a l u e s an a p p r o x i m a t e s o l u t i o n of the
e q u a t i o n s in Appendix A.1 is p o s s i b l e f o r the i n t e r a c t ing p a r t i c l e s . F o r g i v en v a l u e s of ( 7 / 7 y ) , (X/O), and n,
the v a l u e of C / Y o can he obtained f r o m Eq. [A-6] by
c u r v e plotting. Th e i n t e r f a c i a l s t r e s s r e s u l t i n g f r o m
the f i r s t two c o n t r i b u t i o n s can then be obtained f r o m
Eq. [ A - l ] f o r x = ~,/2. To this the c o n t r i b u t i o n f r o m
the d i s t a n t f i e l d given by Eq. [A-12] m u s t s t i l l be added.
I n t e r f a c i a l s t r e s s e s obtained in this s o m e w h a t m o r e
e x a c t m a n n e r a r e u s u a l l y about 5 pct s m a l l e r than
t h o s e c o m p u t e d f r o m E q s . [19] and [20].
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We a r e indebted to P r o f e s s o r s F. A. McClintock and
M. F. Ashby f o r m a n y useful c o m m e n t s , to Dr. D. K.
Brown f o r showing us his then unpublished s o l u t i o n f or
s t r e s s e s and s t r a i n s a r o u n d i n c l u s i o n s and to Dr. J.
C a r s o n f o r i n i t i al help in c o m p u t a t i o n . T h i s work was
s u p p o r t e d i n i t i a l l y by NSF under g r a n t GK 1875X and
l a t e r by A R P A under C o n t r a c t No. DAHC15-70C-D283.

IA-lol

The s e c o n d c o n t r i b u t i o n c o m e s f r o m the p l a s t i c
s h e a r d r a g on the extending c y l i n d e r along its w al l s
which is

e 3 = ko(717y) -~

[a-s]

.~-y ,,

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METALLURGICAL TRANSACTIONS A

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METALLURGICAL TRANSACTIONS A

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