The features of grain-boundary disclination-splitting in nanocrystals were theoretically examined. It was shown that there were three basic variants of such splitting when viewed as a relaxation process which was specified by various values of elastic-energy decrease. The contribution of disclinations as strengthening factors during the plastic deformation of metallic glass-nanocrystal composites was also considered.

On the Role of Disclinations in Relaxation and Deformation Processes in Nanostructured Materials. M.J.Gutkin, I.A.Ovidko, K.N.Mikaelyan: Nanostructured Materials, 1995, 6[5-8], 779-82