Grain boundary sliding in polycrystalline materials

Abstract

Abstract Delayed elastic phenomenon during high–temperature creep of polycrystalline materials is correlated with strain due to grain boundary sliding. This correlation has been used to develop a phenomenological viscoelastic model that includes the grain–size effect. With ice as a reference material, it is shown that the contribution of the grain-boundary sliding strain to the total strain, and its dependence on stress, time, temperature and grain diameter can be systematically analysed by the proposed model. The results appear to agree with the observed trends in other materials.