Using analytical and numerical methods, we analyse the Raj–Ashby bicrystal model of diffusionally accommodated grain-boundary sliding for finite interface slopes. Two perfectly elastic layers of finite thickness are separated by a given fixed spatially periodic interface. Dissipation occurs by time-periodic shearing of the viscous interfacial region, and by time-periodic grain-boundary diffusion. Although two time scales govern these processes, of particular interest is the characteristic time
t
D
for grain-boundary diffusion to occur over distances of order of the grain size. For seismic frequencies
ωt
D
≫1, we find that the spectrum of mechanical loss
Q
−1
is controlled by the local stress field near corners. For a simple piecewise linear interface having identical corners, this localization leads to a simple asymptotic form for the loss spectrum: for
ωt
D
≫1,
Q
−1
∼const.
ω
−
α
. The positive exponent
α
is determined by the structure of the stress field near the corners, but depends both on the angle subtended by the corner and on the orientation of the interface; the value of
α
for a sawtooth interface having 120
°
angles differs from that for a truncated sawtooth interface whose corners subtend the same 120
°
angle. When corners on an interface are not all identical, the behaviour is even more complex. Our analysis suggests that the loss spectrum of a finely grained solid results from volume averaging of the dissipation occurring in the neighbourhood of a randomly oriented three-dimensional network of grain boundaries and edges.
Anisotropic rheology during grain boundary diffusion creep and its relation to grain rotation, grain boundary sliding and superplasticity
