The effects of heating rate during the thermal coarsening of nanoporous gold (NPG) on its morphological evolution, microstructure, and mechanical properties are studied using molecular dynamics simulations. The simulation results show that lower heating rates promote the coarsening of NPG and decreasing porosity. The coarsening proceeds until the end of the heating process, followed by structural relaxation and recovery of the crystalline structure during the cooling process. NPG coarsened at lower heating rates has better mechanical strength. NPG under compression has a much higher dislocation density than that under tension, which results in a significant tension/compression asymmetry. During compression, NPG necking preferentially occurs at smaller ligament junctions and the orientation is [110].

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