DOI: 10.1126/science.1098993. Sample Dimensions Influence Strength and Crystal Plasticity

Sample Dimensions Influence Strength and Crystal Plasticity

10.1126/science.1098993

Crossref journal-article

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Science (221)

Abstract

When a crystal deforms plastically, phenomena such as dislocation storage, multiplication, motion, pinning, and nucleation occur over the submicron-to-nanometer scale. Here we report measurements of plastic yielding for single crystals of micrometer-sized dimensions for three different types of metals. We find that within the tests, the overall sample dimensions artificially limit the length scales available for plastic processes. The results show dramatic size effects at surprisingly large sample dimensions. These results emphasize that at the micrometer scale, one must define both the external geometry and internal structure to characterize the strength of a material.

Bibliography

Uchic, M. D., Dimiduk, D. M., Florando, J. N., & Nix, W. D. (2004). Sample Dimensions Influence Strength and Crystal Plasticity. Science, 305(5686), 986â989.

Authors 4

Michael D. Uchic (first)
Dennis M. Dimiduk (additional)
Jeffrey N. Florando (additional)
William D. Nix (additional)

References 26 Referenced 2,042

10.1088/0370-1301/64/9/303
N. J. Petch, J. Iron Steel Inst.174, 25 (1953). / J. Iron Steel Inst. (1953)
10.1038/35254
10.1063/1.1722294
10.1063/1.1722900
S. S. Brenner, in Growth and Perfection of Crystals, R. H. Doremus, B. W. Roberts, D. Turnbull, Eds. (Wiley, New York, 1959), pp. 157–190. / Growth and Perfection of Crystals (1959)
10.1143/JPSJ.11.382
10.1080/14786436808223026
S. J. Bazinski, Z. S. Bazinski, in Dislocations in Solids, F. R. N. Nabarro, Ed. (North Holland, Amsterdam, 1979), vol. 4, pp. 261–362. / Dislocations in Solids (1979)
G. Sevillano, in Materials Science and Technology, Vol. 6 Plastic Deformation and Fracture of Materials, H. Mughrabi, Ed. (VCH, Weinheim, Germany, 1993), vol. 6, pp. 19–88. / Materials Science and Technology, Vol. 6 Plastic Deformation and Fracture of Materials (1993)
10.1016/0956-7151(94)90502-9
10.1557/JMR.1995.0853
10.1016/S0022-5096(97)00086-0
10.1016/S1359-6454(98)00153-0
10.1016/0001-6160(53)90054-6
10.1080/14786437008238426
M. D. Uchic, D. M. Dimiduk, J. N. Florando, W. D. Nix, in Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings, E. P. George et al., Eds. (Materials Research Society, Pittsburgh, PA, 2003), vol. 753, pp. BB1.4.1–BB1.4.6. / Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings (2003)
10.1109/84.946774
10.1016/S0924-4247(01)00861-5
10.1016/S0022-5096(02)00062-5
H. D. Espinosa, B. C. Prorok, B. Peng, J. Mater. Res.52, 667 (2004). / J. Mater. Res. (2004)
M. Mills, N. Baluc, H. P. Karnthaler, in Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings, C. T. Liu et al., Eds. (Materials Research Society, Pittsburgh, PA, 1989), vol. 133, pp. 203–208. / Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings (1989)
10.1016/S1572-4859(96)80008-8
10.1080/01418619208201539
X. Shi, G. Saada, P. Veyssière, Philos. Mag. Lett.71, 1 (1995). / Philos. Mag. Lett. (1995)
Supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Accelerated Insertion of Materials program of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (M.D.U. and D.M.D.) under the direction of C. Hartley and L. Christodoulou respectively and by the U.S. Department of Energy and NSF (J.N.F. and W.D.N.). The Ni superalloy single crystal and corresponding bulk mechanical test data were provided by T. Pollock of the University of Michigan. We gratefully acknowledge useful discussions with T. A. Parthasarathy K. Hemker and R. LeSar. We also acknowledge H. Fraser whose efforts enabled many aspects of the instruments used in this work.

Dates

Type	When
Created	21 years ago (Aug. 13, 2004, 5:03 a.m.)
Deposited	1 year, 7 months ago (Jan. 9, 2024, 10:26 p.m.)
Indexed	3 days, 14 hours ago (Aug. 19, 2025, 6:32 a.m.)
Issued	21 years ago (Aug. 13, 2004)
Published	21 years ago (Aug. 13, 2004)
Published Print	21 years ago (Aug. 13, 2004)

Funders 0

None

BibTeX

@article{Uchic_2004, title={Sample Dimensions Influence Strength and Crystal Plasticity}, volume={305}, ISSN={1095-9203}, url={http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1098993}, DOI={10.1126/science.1098993}, number={5686}, journal={Science}, publisher={American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)}, author={Uchic, Michael D. and Dimiduk, Dennis M. and Florando, Jeffrey N. and Nix, William D.}, year={2004}, month=aug, pages={986–989} }

JSON

{
  "indexed": {
    "date-parts": [
      [
        2025,
        8,
        19
      ]
    ],
    "date-time": "2025-08-19T10:32:23Z",
    "timestamp": 1755599543936
  },
  "reference-count": 26,
  "publisher": "American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)",
  "issue": "5686",
  "content-domain": {
    "domain": [],
    "crossmark-restriction": false
  },
  "published-print": {
    "date-parts": [
      [
        2004,
        8,
        13
      ]
    ]
  },
  "abstract": "<jats:p>When a crystal deforms plastically, phenomena such as dislocation storage, multiplication, motion, pinning, and nucleation occur over the submicron-to-nanometer scale. Here we report measurements of plastic yielding for single crystals of micrometer-sized dimensions for three different types of metals. We find that within the tests, the overall sample dimensions artificially limit the length scales available for plastic processes. The results show dramatic size effects at surprisingly large sample dimensions. These results emphasize that at the micrometer scale, one must define both the external geometry and internal structure to characterize the strength of a material.</jats:p>",
  "DOI": "10.1126/science.1098993",
  "type": "journal-article",
  "created": {
    "date-parts": [
      [
        2004,
        8,
        13
      ]
    ],
    "date-time": "2004-08-13T09:03:46Z",
    "timestamp": 1092387826000
  },
  "page": "986-989",
  "source": "Crossref",
  "is-referenced-by-count": 2042,
  "title": "Sample Dimensions Influence Strength and Crystal Plasticity",
  "prefix": "10.1126",
  "volume": "305",
  "author": [
    {
      "given": "Michael D.",
      "family": "Uchic",
      "sequence": "first",
      "affiliation": [
        {
          "name": "Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials &amp; Manufacturing Directorate, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH 45433\u20137817, USA."
        },
        {
          "name": "Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550, USA."
        },
        {
          "name": "Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305\u20132205, USA."
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "given": "Dennis M.",
      "family": "Dimiduk",
      "sequence": "additional",
      "affiliation": [
        {
          "name": "Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials &amp; Manufacturing Directorate, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH 45433\u20137817, USA."
        },
        {
          "name": "Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550, USA."
        },
        {
          "name": "Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305\u20132205, USA."
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "given": "Jeffrey N.",
      "family": "Florando",
      "sequence": "additional",
      "affiliation": [
        {
          "name": "Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials &amp; Manufacturing Directorate, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH 45433\u20137817, USA."
        },
        {
          "name": "Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550, USA."
        },
        {
          "name": "Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305\u20132205, USA."
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "given": "William D.",
      "family": "Nix",
      "sequence": "additional",
      "affiliation": [
        {
          "name": "Air Force Research Laboratory, Materials &amp; Manufacturing Directorate, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH 45433\u20137817, USA."
        },
        {
          "name": "Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA 94550, USA."
        },
        {
          "name": "Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305\u20132205, USA."
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "member": "221",
  "reference": [
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_1_2_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1088/0370-1301/64/9/303"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_1_3_2",
      "first-page": "25",
      "volume": "174",
      "year": "1953",
      "unstructured": "N. J. Petch, J. Iron Steel Inst.174, 25 (1953).",
      "journal-title": "J. Iron Steel Inst."
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_1_4_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1038/35254"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_1_5_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1063/1.1722294"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_1_6_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1063/1.1722900"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_1_7_2",
      "first-page": "157",
      "year": "1959",
      "unstructured": "S. S. Brenner, in Growth and Perfection of Crystals, R. H. Doremus, B. W. Roberts, D. Turnbull, Eds. (Wiley, New York, 1959), pp. 157\u2013190.",
      "journal-title": "Growth and Perfection of Crystals"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_1_8_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1143/JPSJ.11.382"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_1_9_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1080/14786436808223026"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_1_10_2",
      "first-page": "261",
      "volume": "4",
      "year": "1979",
      "unstructured": "S. J. Bazinski, Z. S. Bazinski, in Dislocations in Solids, F. R. N. Nabarro, Ed. (North Holland, Amsterdam, 1979), vol. 4, pp. 261\u2013362.",
      "journal-title": "Dislocations in Solids"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_1_11_2",
      "first-page": "19",
      "volume": "6",
      "year": "1993",
      "unstructured": "G. Sevillano, in Materials Science and Technology, Vol. 6 Plastic Deformation and Fracture of Materials, H. Mughrabi, Ed. (VCH, Weinheim, Germany, 1993), vol. 6, pp. 19\u201388.",
      "journal-title": "Materials Science and Technology, Vol. 6 Plastic Deformation and Fracture of Materials"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_1_12_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1016/0956-7151(94)90502-9"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_1_13_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1557/JMR.1995.0853"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_1_14_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1016/S0022-5096(97)00086-0"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_1_15_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1016/S1359-6454(98)00153-0"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_1_16_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1016/0001-6160(53)90054-6"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_1_17_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1080/14786437008238426"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_1_18_2",
      "first-page": "BB1.4.1",
      "volume": "753",
      "year": "2003",
      "unstructured": "M. D. Uchic, D. M. Dimiduk, J. N. Florando, W. D. Nix, in Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings, E. P. George et al., Eds. (Materials Research Society, Pittsburgh, PA, 2003), vol. 753, pp. BB1.4.1\u2013BB1.4.6.",
      "journal-title": "Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_1_19_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1109/84.946774"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_1_20_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1016/S0924-4247(01)00861-5"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_1_21_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1016/S0022-5096(02)00062-5"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_1_22_2",
      "first-page": "667",
      "volume": "52",
      "year": "2004",
      "unstructured": "H. D. Espinosa, B. C. Prorok, B. Peng, J. Mater. Res.52, 667 (2004).",
      "journal-title": "J. Mater. Res."
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_1_23_2",
      "first-page": "203",
      "volume": "133",
      "year": "1989",
      "unstructured": "M. Mills, N. Baluc, H. P. Karnthaler, in Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings, C. T. Liu et al., Eds. (Materials Research Society, Pittsburgh, PA, 1989), vol. 133, pp. 203\u2013208.",
      "journal-title": "Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_1_24_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1016/S1572-4859(96)80008-8"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_1_25_2",
      "doi-asserted-by": "publisher",
      "DOI": "10.1080/01418619208201539"
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_1_26_2",
      "first-page": "1",
      "volume": "71",
      "year": "1995",
      "unstructured": "X. Shi, G. Saada, P. Veyssi\u00e8re, Philos. Mag. Lett.71, 1 (1995).",
      "journal-title": "Philos. Mag. Lett."
    },
    {
      "key": "e_1_3_1_27_2",
      "unstructured": "Supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Accelerated Insertion of Materials program of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (M.D.U. and D.M.D.) under the direction of C. Hartley and L. Christodoulou respectively and by the U.S. Department of Energy and NSF (J.N.F. and W.D.N.). The Ni superalloy single crystal and corresponding bulk mechanical test data were provided by T. Pollock of the University of Michigan. We gratefully acknowledge useful discussions with T. A. Parthasarathy K. Hemker and R. LeSar. We also acknowledge H. Fraser whose efforts enabled many aspects of the instruments used in this work."
    }
  ],
  "container-title": "Science",
  "original-title": [],
  "language": "en",
  "link": [
    {
      "URL": "https://www.science.org/doi/pdf/10.1126/science.1098993",
      "content-type": "unspecified",
      "content-version": "vor",
      "intended-application": "similarity-checking"
    }
  ],
  "deposited": {
    "date-parts": [
      [
        2024,
        1,
        10
      ]
    ],
    "date-time": "2024-01-10T03:26:46Z",
    "timestamp": 1704857206000
  },
  "score": 1,
  "resource": {
    "primary": {
      "URL": "https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1098993"
    }
  },
  "subtitle": [],
  "short-title": [],
  "issued": {
    "date-parts": [
      [
        2004,
        8,
        13
      ]
    ]
  },
  "references-count": 26,
  "journal-issue": {
    "issue": "5686",
    "published-print": {
      "date-parts": [
        [
          2004,
          8,
          13
        ]
      ]
    }
  },
  "alternative-id": [
    "10.1126/science.1098993"
  ],
  "URL": "http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1098993",
  "relation": {},
  "ISSN": [
    "0036-8075",
    "1095-9203"
  ],
  "subject": [],
  "container-title-short": "Science",
  "published": {
    "date-parts": [
      [
        2004,
        8,
        13
      ]
    ]
  }
}