Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011
Using elastic fields of dislocations in a layered material, a simple form of a periodic potential is proposed to account for the fluctuation in dislocation line energy with position in a multilayer. This potential is incorporated into a fracture analysis which uses a Rice-Thomson criterion for dislocation emission [1] and a corresponding local stress intensity factor condition for cleavage extension. The analysis is rate-dependent, in that the velocity of a nucleated dislocation is proportional to the energetic force on that dislocation. Predictions of dislocation patterns in the vicinity of a crack parallel to the interface, as well as initial R-curve behavior, are discussed as a function of loading rate, layer thickness, and elastic properties of a two-component multilayer.