A screw dislocation near a circular nano-inhomogeneity in gradient elasticity

A screw dislocation outside an infinite cylindrical nano-inhomogeneity of circular cross section is considered within the isotropic theory of gradient elasticity. Fields of total displacements, elastic and plastic distortions, elastic strains and stresses are derived and analyzed in detail. In contrast with the case of classical elasticity, the gradient solutions are shown to possess no singularities at the dislocation line. Moreover, all stress components are continuous and smooth at the interface unlike the classical solution. As a result, the image force exerted on the dislocation due to the differences in elastic and gradient constants of the matrix and inhomogeneity, remains finite when the dislocation approaches the interface. The gradient solution demonstrates a non-classical size-effect in such a way that the stress level inside the inhomogeneity decreases with its size. The gradient and classical solutions coincide when the distances from the dislocation line and the interface exceed several atomic spacings.