MRS Spring Meeting 2018

I am glad to announce that P.M. Derlet, M. Falk, C. Woodward, and I will be hosting a symposium entitled Strain localization, avalanches, and intermittent deformation mechanisms at the MRS Spring Meeting 2018. See below for the symposium description. We hope to see many of you in Phoenix!

mrs_logoMany materials exhibit a stochastic deformation response, which allows deep insights into how the underlying defect structure evolves. Classical examples encompass intermittent flow of single crystals or dynamic strain aging. More recent materials classes sharing spatiotemporal deformation dynamics are metallic glasses and high entropy alloys. In all of these materials, deformation is typically understood with respect to well defined structural excitations (e.g. dislocations, shear transformations, etc.), that traditionally have been characterized with mean properties of the evolving defect structure. A renewed interest in spatiotemporal deformation reveals that some aspects of plastic deformation are scale-free, being well described with power-law distributions known from general theories of critically evolving systems that lack a well-defined mean. In this symposium, we seek to discuss the underlying structural mechanisms for strain localization, avalanche dynamics, and intermittent deformation across all length and time-scales of condensed matter. This includes the experimental characterization of these phenomenon, novel model development, and also simulations and theory.

The Strain localization, avalanches and intermittent deformation mechanisms symposium brings together a broad range of materials researchers for a technical exchange and a discussion of the scientific issues driving research in this field. The topics of interest to this symposium include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Discrete deformation of crystalline materials across all length scales
  • Shear-band formation and dynamics in metallic glasses
  • Dislocation avalanche dynamics
  • Structural excitations and defect distributions in metallic glasses
  • Intermittency in fracture
  • Serrated flow of high entropy alloys
  • Statistical characterization of intermittent deformation and self-organized critical behavior
  • General theory and microstructural modelling describing avalanche behavior
  • Emerging experimental methods to trace intermittent deformation in single as well as polycrystalline systems
  • Constitutive model development for strain localizing materials
  • Incorporating structural and temporal stochasticity in theories of deformation and failure
  • Marginal stability

The symposium will emphasize the theoretical computational and experimental aspects of intermittently evolving defect structures and deformation behavior.

We are proud to announce sponsorship from our industrial partner Bruker Nano Surfaces.