MOLECULAR DYNAMICS SIMULATIONS OF PLASTIC DEFORMATION OF METALLIC SURFACES

N Puksic and M Jenko and M Godec, MATERIALI IN TEHNOLOGIJE, 51, 153-156 (2017).

DOI: 10.17222/mit.2016.334

An understanding of the physical properties of a wide array of geometries is important in the quest for ever smaller and more fine- tuned devices and their parts. Surfaces play a key role in the deformation of nano- scale systems. Molecular dynamics simulations of compressive and tensile deformation were performed on nickel and copper thin films with (111), (9 9 11) and (10 10 8) surface orientations at 10 K. The (9 9 11) and (10 10 8) surfaces are vicinal to (111) and consist of a series of equidistant monoatomic steps. All the cases exhibit a yield stress asymmetry, with the yield stress being higher in compression than in tension. The near- surface region is the first to plastically deform and dislocations nucleate at the surface. The influence of the surface is most pronounced for the cases of the (10 10 8) surfaces deformed in compression, where parallel stacking faults nucleate at the steps on the surfaces in both materials, overriding the primary slip systems.

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