Valery Borovikov

Effect of stacking fault energy on mechanism of plastic deformation in nanotwinned FCC metals

Starting from a semi-empirical potential designed for Cu, we developed a series of potentials that provide essentially constant values of all significant (calculated) materials properties except for the intrinsic stacking fault energy, which varies over a range that encompasses the lowest and highest values observed in nature. These potentials were employed in molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate how stacking fault energy affects the mechanical behavior of nanotwinned face-centered cubic (fcc) materials. The results indicate that properties such as yield strength and microstructural stability do not vary systematically with stacking fault energy, but rather fall into two distinct regimes corresponding to low and high stacking fault energies.

Effects of Schmid factor and slip nucleation on deformation mechanism in columnar-grained nanotwinned Ag and Cu

We report the results of a molecular dynamics study of the effect of texture on the yield and peak stresses in columnar-grained nanotwinned Ag and Cu. The simulations suggest that in pure nanotwinned face-centered cubic metals, the strength is determined primarily by the cooperation or competition between two major factors: the magnitude of the Schmid factors for the available slip systems and the effectiveness of grain boundaries (and their triple-junctions) in generating dislocations. These factors and their relative impact depend on the geometry of the specimen relative to the applied stress, which is typically reflected in the texture of the material in experimental studies. The detailed mechanisms of plastic deformation are discussed for seven specific geometries that represent a range of different textures.

Effects of stable and unstable stacking fault energy on dislocation nucleation in nano-crystalline metals

Dislocation nucleation from grain boundaries (GB) can control plastic deformation in nano-crystalline metals under certain conditions, but little is known about what controls dislocation nucleation, because when data from different materials are compared, the variations of many interacting properties tend to obscure the effects of any single property. In this study, we seek clarification by applying a unique capability of semi-empirical potentials in molecular dynamics simulations: the potentials can be modified such that all significant material properties but one, are kept constant. Using a set of potentials developed to isolate the effects of stacking fault energy, we show that for a given grain boundary, loading orientation and strain rate, the yield stress depends linearly on both the stable and unstable stacking fault energies. The coefficients of proportionality depend on the GB structure and the value of the yield stress is related to the density of the E structural units in the GB. While the impact of the stable stacking fault energy is easy to understand, the unstable stacking fault energy requires more elucidation and we provide a framework for understanding how it affects the nucleation and propagation process.