Improbability of void growth in aluminum via dislocation nucleation under typical laboratory conditions.

The rate at which dislocations nucleate from spherical voids subjected to shear loading is predicted from atomistic simulation. By employing the latest version of the finite temperature string method, a variational transition state theory approach can be utilized, enabling atomistic predictions at ordinary laboratory time scales, loads, and temperatures. The simulation results, in conjunction with a continuum model, show that the deformation and growth of voids in Al are not likely to occur via dislocation nucleation under typical loadings regardless of void size.