Abstract:
The development of accurate models and simulations of plastic deformation in metallic materials requires an understanding of the behavior of defects and deformation modes in metals at multiple length and time scales. In this presentation, recent atomistic simulation and discrete dislocation dynamics (DDD) simulation efforts in the Spearot Research Group at the University of Florida will be summarized. First, a brief introduction to atomistic simulation and DDD simulation techniques will be presented. This will be followed by an overview of several recent projects. (1) Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of shock wave propagation and shear transformation zone formation in Cu-Zr metallic glasses. (2) Molecular statics calculations and MD simulations of the dependence of the Peierls stress and dislocation mobility in FCC metals on dislocation segment character angle and local stress state. (3) DDD simulations of dislocation transmission at grain boundaries (GBs) in Al, including a method to incorporate the mechanical structure of equilibrium and non-equilibrium GBs via a disclination-dislocation framework. (4) Development of new “virtual” electron and x-ray diffraction methods for both atomistic and DDD simulations to enhance the connection between simulations and experiments.

Biography:
Dr. Spearot is the Newton C. Ebaugh Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Florida. He also holds an affiliate appointment in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering. From 2005-2015, he was an Assistant/Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and a member of the Institute for Nanoscience and Engineering at the University of Arkansas. His research focuses on the use of atomistic and mesoscale simulation techniques to study the mechanical and thermodynamic properties of materials, with particular focus on the behavior of dislocations and interfaces, and the development of computational tools to extract experimentally relevant metrics from simulation generated data. Dr. Spearot was awarded the CAREER Award in 2010 from the National Science Foundation. He received the Teacher of the Year award in 2020 from the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering at the University of Florida and received both the 2014 College of Engineering Imhoff Outstanding Teaching Award and the 2014 Arkansas Alumni Association Rising Teaching Award at the University of Arkansas. Dr. Spearot received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.