Molecular dynamics simulation of nanoindentation on amorphous/amorphous nanolaminates

Molecular Dynamics Study of the Nanoindentation Behavior of Cu64Zr36/Cu Amorphous/Crystalline Nanolaminate Composites

“…Moreover, in the retraction part, the adhesive phenomena occur before the force returned to zero when the indenter had no impact on the substrate. These results were consistent with the results in previous studies [ 34 , 36 ].…”

“…The system sizes in the directions perpendicular to the indentation direction were chosen to be large enough to avoid spurious effects of the PBC. In the present MD simulations, the modified Finnis–Sinclair-type potential for Cu–Zr binary alloys proposed by Mendelev et al [ 39 ] were used, which had previously been successfully applied to simulate the deformation behaviors of Cu–Zr MGs and their composites [ 25 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 40 ]. The atoms in the indenter were kept fixed (i.e., the indenter was assumed to be an infinitely rigid body).…”

“…The whole indentation process was completed when the indenter returns to its initial position at the same velocity. To better highlight the material response upon mechanical loading, the initial temperature of the system was maintained at 50 K to avoid excess thermal activation [ 6 , 36 , 40 ]. Finally, the atomic configurations and the microstructural evolution were analyzed using the visualization tool OVITO [ 41 ], which provided details of the microstructural evolution of samples during nanoindentation.…”

“…Incorporating crystalline phases mitigates the poor failure resistance in MGs, which accommodates plastic strain by dislocation slip, effectively preventing shear band propagation [ 4 , 5 , 6 , 27 , 28 , 29 ]. More recent simulation studies have confirmed that the crystalline phase inserted into the amorphous phase can impede the propagation of SBs, and plays a vital role in the plastic deformation mechanism of ACNLs [ 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ]. Furthermore, these studies also provide insight into how the microstructure, layer thickness and individual phase properties can be tailored to optimize the mechanical properties of the composites [ 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 ].…”

“…More recent simulation studies have confirmed that the crystalline phase inserted into the amorphous phase can impede the propagation of SBs, and plays a vital role in the plastic deformation mechanism of ACNLs [ 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ]. Furthermore, these studies also provide insight into how the microstructure, layer thickness and individual phase properties can be tailored to optimize the mechanical properties of the composites [ 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 ]. Although atomic simulation of the nanoindentation behavior and the influence of different factors on mechanical properties have been considered comprehensively, the change of the local stress distribution from the amorphous layer to the crystalline layer and the deformation behavior during the unloading process were not discussed yet.…”