It was noted that dislocation mobility and stability in inclusions could affect the mechanical behaviour of composites. The problem of an edge dislocation located within a nanoscale cylindrical inclusion incorporating interface stress was first considered. The explicit expression for the image force acting on the edge dislocation was obtained by means of a complex variable method. The influence of the interface effects and the size of the inclusion on the image force was evaluated. The results indicated that the impact of interface stress on the image force and the equilibrium positions of the edge dislocation inside the inclusion became remarkable when the radius of the inclusion was reduced to nanometer scale. The force acting on the edge dislocation produced by the interface stress will increase with the decrease of the radius of the inclusion and depended on the inclusion size which differs from the classical solution. The stability of the dislocation inside a nanoscale inclusion was also analyzed. The condition of the dislocation stability and the critical radius of the inclusion were revised for considering interface stresses.

Effect of Interface Stresses on the Image Force and Stability of an Edge Dislocation Inside a Nanoscale Cylindrical Inclusion. Q.H.Fang, Y.W.Liu, B.Jin, P.H.Wen: International Journal of Solids and Structures, 2009, 46[6], 1413-22