Methodology and applications of mesoplasticity in manufacturing sciences

The studies on plasticity have been conventionally divided into two categories, namely macroplasticity and microplasticity. Mesoplasticity emerges as a link between these two schools which introduces the essential microplasticity concepts to various intermediate (or meso-) scales, and represents the connection between the continuum-based macroplasticity and atomistic physical theory of plasticity. The methodology of mesoplasticity is described and exemplified by the grainaverage SCM pertinent to sliding polycrystals. The paper is then focussed on the applications of mesoplasticity in manufacturing sciences. Three examples discussed here are the development of the groove defect in biaxial stretching, considering clustering of textured grain colonies; chip formation in the ductile machining of single crystals; and heterogeneous nucleation and spread of dislocation loops in the manufacturing of strained layer epitaxy. All three examples underline the importance of the mesoplasticity formulation.