Recent results obtained by 3D discrete dislocation dynamics simulations were reviewed. Firstly, in the case of fatigued AISI 316L stainless steel, it was shown how dislocation dynamics simulations could both explain the formation of persistent slip bands and gave a criterion for crack initiation. The same study was performed in the case of precipitate hardened metals where the precipitate size played a crucial role. Secondly, it was shown how molecular dynamics simulations could feed the dislocation dynamics simulations for 2 applications. The first concerns the modelling of body-centered cubic Fe for which the dislocation mobility was derived from molecular dynamics simulations. The second considers the modelling of irradiated stainless steels (face-centered cubic), where molecular dynamics was used to define the local rules of interactions between dislocations and Frank loops.

Discrete Dislocation Dynamics - an Important Recent Breakthrough in the Modelling of Dislocation Collective Behaviour. M.C.Fivel: Comptes Rendus - Physique, 2008, 9[3-4], 427-36