Internal Friction in Metallic Alloys

Internal friction in metallic alloys refers to the intrinsic energy dissipation that occurs when a material is subjected to cyclic or vibrational loading. It arises from the irreversible movement of defects, phase interfaces and solute atmospheres under alternating stress fields. Key mechanisms include dislocation resonance and drag by point defects, diffusion‐controlled relaxation around interstitial atoms and interface‐limited interactions during phase transformations. Internal friction measurements provide insight into microstructural features such as solute segregation, precipitate distribution and defect densities, offering a non-destructive probe into the dynamic behaviour of alloys. Control of internal friction is crucial for applications where mechanical damping, acoustic attenuation or fatigue resistance are vital, spanning sectors from aerospace components to precision instruments.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have illuminated the role of solute–dislocation interactions in energy dissipation. Experimental work on Fe-based alloys has shown that the elastic field of edge dislocations governs the segregation of impurity atoms into cores and atmospheres. This segregation modifies the local stress landscape and alters the mechanical damping spectrum by changing the threshold for dislocation oscillation. Complementary multiscale modelling and in-situ X-ray diffraction experiments on medium-carbon steels have established constitutive equations linking effective elastic constants to microstructural state. By correlating diffraction elastic constants with macroscopic bending tests, these investigations refine predictive models of internal friction across length scales. Foundational high-resolution transmission electron microscopy combined with atomistic simulation has further revealed that interface-dominated cooperative nanoprecipitation in interstitial steels leads to directional growth of nanoscale carbides. This mechanism couples lattice reconstruction and carbon segregation at precipitate fronts, creating barriers that influence dislocation pinning and damping peaks.

Internal Friction in Metallic Alloys publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in internal friction in metallic alloys across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Internal friction: Energy loss per cycle under cyclic loading due to irreversible microstructural processes.

Dislocation: A line defect in a crystal lattice whose motion mediates plastic deformation and contributes to mechanical damping.

Diffusion coefficient: A parameter quantifying the rate at which atoms migrate through a solid, central to diffusion‐controlled relaxation.

Eigenstrain: A strain arising from lattice misfit of inclusions or interstitial atoms, independent of external stress.

Cottrell cloud: A region of segregated interstitial atoms surrounding a dislocation, which affects its mobility and damping behaviour.

References

1. Role of dislocation elastic field on impurity segregation in Fe-based alloys. Scientific Reports (2021).
2. Multiscale simulation and experimental measurements of the elastic response for constructional steel. Scientific Reports (2022).
3. Interface dominated cooperative nanoprecipitation in interstitial alloys. Nature Communications (2018).
4. Damping of vibrations of a rod by dissipation due to diffusion. Scripta Materialia (2025).
5. Elastic stress–strain analysis of an infinite cylindrical inclusion with eigenstrain. Archive of Applied Mechanics (2017).
6. Stress–strain analysis of the antiplane shear problem for an infinite cylindrical inclusion with eigenstrain: an addendum to Arch. Appl. Mech. 2018. Archive of Applied Mechanics (2018).