Line integral forms for the elastic field of dislocations in anisotropic, multilayer materials were developed and utilized in parametric dislocation dynamics computer simulations. Developed equations account for interface image forces on dislocations as a result of elastic modulus mismatch between adjacent layers. The method was applied to study dislocation motion in multilayer thin films. The operation of dislocation sources, dislocation pile-ups, confined layer slip, and the loss of layer confinement were demonstrated for a duplex Cu/Ni system. The strength of a thin film of alternating nanolayers was shown to increase with decreasing layer thickness, and that the maximum strength was determined by the Koehler barrier in the absence of coherency strains. For alternating Cu/Ni nanolayers, the dependence of the strength on the duplex layer thickness was found to be consistent with experimental results, down to a layer thickness of ≈10nm.

Dislocation Motion in Anisotropic Multilayer Materials. N.M.Ghoniem, X.Han: Philosophical Magazine, 2005, 85[24], 2809-30