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Nanocrystalline metals

Mapping plasticity

Nature Materials volume 3, pages 11–12 (2004)Cite this article

The strength of polycrystalline materials is well known to increase with decreasing grain size. Below a certain 'strongest size' however, this behaviour is reversed. Mapping the deformation mechanisms in nanoscale materials by molecular dynamics simulation clarifies why.

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Figure 1: Map of the operational deformation mechanisms in nanocrystalline f.c.c. metals with grain size d during low-temperature deformation under a stress σ.
Figure 2: Evidence for a 'strongest grain size' in the plastic deformation of nanocrystals obtained by molecular dynamics simulations and experimental work.

a, adapted from ref. 7. Copyright © 2003 Taylor & Francis Ltd. b, adapted from ref. 8. Copyright © 2003 AAAS. c, adapted from ref. 9. Copyright © 2003 American Institute of Physics.

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  1. Department of Nuclear Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 02139-4307, Massachusetts, USA

    Sidney Yip

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  1. Sidney Yip
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Yip, S. Mapping plasticity. Nature Mater 3, 11–12 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat1053

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