Dresden 2026 – scientific programme
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FM: Fachverband Funktionsmaterialien
FM 13: Topical Session: Dislocations in Functional Materials I (joint session MM/FM)
FM 13.1: Talk
Wednesday, March 11, 2026, 10:15–10:30, SCH/A251
Mechanical seeding of dislocations for room-temperature plasticity in ceramics — •Wenjun Lu1, Jiawen Zhang1, and Xufei Fang2 — 1Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, 518055, China — 2Institute for Applied Materials, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe,76131, Germany
The pursuit of room-temperature ductile ceramics has long been hindered by their inherent brittleness. Here, we demonstrate a simple strategy to seed mobile dislocations at room temperature with densities up to 1014 m-2, enabling ceramics to sustain plastic compressive strains exceeding 30%. These dislocations multiply through cross-slip and motion, effectively suppressing brittle fracture without high-temperature processing. Using in situ nano-/micromechanical deformation and ex situ bulk tests, we bridge the length scales of plasticity and reveal a strong dependence of yield strength and flow behavior on dislocation density. Specifically, SrTiO3 micropillars transition from brittle fracture (dislocation-free) to plastic yield when mechanically seeded dislocations are present. Yield strength first decreases then rises with increasing dislocation density, reflecting complex structural evolution observed via transmission electron microscopy. These findings highlight dislocation engineering as a viable pathway toward ductile ceramics and open avenues for tuning their mechanical and functional properties through room-temperature dislocation plasticity.
Contribution: Wenjun Lu is the Speaker.
Keywords: Dislocations; Mechanical properties; TEM/STEM; In situ tests; STO