Vacancy diffusion was investigated as a mechanism for relaxation of the elastic strain energy caused by a misfitting inclusion. The kinetics of reduction of the total eigenstrain by the deposition or removal of an atom layer along the interface was derived. The time evolution, as well as an estimate for the characteristic time of the relaxation process, was presented. The relaxation times were compared with recent in situ measurements of stress relaxation times in Al with small Pb-alloy inclusions after their solidification. Experimentally observed relaxation times and those theoretically predicted agree very well.

Relaxation of the Elastic Strain Energy of Misfitting Inclusions Due to Diffusion of Vacancies. J.Svoboda, E.Gamsjäger, F.D.Fischer: Philosophical Magazine Letters, 2005, 85[9], 473-9