The ultra-small strongest grain size in nanocrystalline Ni nanowires

R Cao and C Deng, SCRIPTA MATERIALIA, 94, 9-12 (2015).

DOI: 10.1016/j.scriptamat.2014.09.002

Here we report the finding that the strongest grain size to achieve the maximum flow stress in nanocrystalline Ni nanowires was significantly smaller (d = 5 nm) than that in typical bulk metals (d > 10 nm). The discrepancy was due to the dominance of plasticity via surface slip in Ni nanowires at relatively large grain sizes, which was absent in bulk materials. An interesting grain size- and temperature-dependent "hardening"-to-"softening" transition in Ni nanowires was also revealed in this study. (C) 2014 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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