No abstract

We investigate the deformation behavior of bimetallic and trimetallic nanoscale multilayer metallic composites under biaxial loading using molecular dynamics. Three types of structures were studied: (a) Cu–Ni fcc/fcc bilayer, (b) Cu–Nb fcc/bcc bilayer, and (c) Ni–Cu–Nb fcc/fcc/bcc trilayer. A configuration with a dislocation structure inside is generated by initially loading a perfect structure to a high strain to nucleate dislocations, then completely unloading it and loading it again. The comparison between the deformation behavior of bilayer and trilayer structures revealed that the Cu–Ni is more ductile, the Cu–Nb is stronger, and the trilayer structure exhibits both high strength and ductility.

Abstract

Mapping of residual stresses at the mesoscale is increasingly practical thanks to technological developments in electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) and X-ray microdiffraction using high brilliance synchrotron sources. An analysis is presented of a Cu single crystal deformed in compression to about 10% macroscopic strain. Local orientation measurements were made on sectioned and polished specimens using EBSD and X-ray microdiffraction. In broad strokes, the results are similar to each other with orientations being observed that are on the order of 5 misoriented from that of the original crystallite. At the fine scale it is apparent that the X-ray technique can distinguish features in the structure that are much finer in detail than those observed using EBSD even though the spatial resolution of EBSD is superior to that of X-ray diffraction by approximately two orders of magnitude. The results are explained by the sensitivity of the EBSD technique to the specimen surface condition. Dislocation dynamics simulations show that there is a relaxation of the dislocation structure near the free surface of the specimen that extends approximately 650 Å into the specimen. The high spatial resolution of the EBSD technique is detrimental in this respect as the information volume extends only 200 Å or so into the specimen. The X-rays probe a volume on the order of 2 mm in diameter, thus measuring the structure that is relatively unaffected by the near-surface relaxation.

The deformation mechanisms in Cu-Ni-Cu composite nanowires subjected to uniaxial tensile loading are investigated using molecular-dynamics simulations. We particularly explore the coupled effects of geometry and coherent interface on the tendency of nanowires to deform via twins and show pseudoelastic behavior. It is found that the critical size to exhibit pseudoelasticity in composite nanowires is 5.6ϫ 5.6 nm 2 , which is 6.5 times greater than single-crystalline Cu nanowires. Our results also show that the composite nanowires offer stiffness enhancement compared to the corresponding single-crystal Cu nanowires.