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Twisting of a Pristine α-Fe Nanowire: From Wild Dislocation Avalanches to Mild Local Amorphization.

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

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Authors

Ding, Xiangdong 
Sun, Jun 

Abstract

The torsion of pristine α-Fe nanowires was studied by molecular dynamics simulations. Torsion-induced plastic deformation in pristine nanowires is divided into two regimes. Under weak torsion, plastic deformation leads to dislocation nucleation and propagation. Twisting-induced dislocations are mainly 12<111> screw dislocations in a <112>-oriented nanowire. The nucleation and propagation of these dislocations were found to form avalanches which generate the emission of energy jerks. Their probability distribution function (PDF) showed power laws with mixing between different energy exponents. The mixing stemmed from simultaneous axial and radial dislocation movements. The power-law distribution indicated strongly correlated 'wild' dislocation dynamics. At the end of this regime, the dislocation pattern was frozen, and further twisting of the nanowire did not change the dislocation pattern. Instead, it induced local amorphization at the grip points at the ends of the sample. This "melting" generated highly dampened, mild avalanches. We compared the deformation mechanisms of twinned and pristine α-Fe nanowires under torsion.

Description

Keywords

dislocation avalanche, local amorphization, mild wild fluctuations, plasticity dynamics, torsion, α-Fe nanowire

Journal Title

Nanomaterials (Basel)

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2079-4991
2079-4991

Volume Title

11

Publisher

MDPI AG
Sponsorship
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/P024904/1)
European Commission Horizon 2020 (H2020) Marie Sk?odowska-Curie actions (861153)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EP/L014793/1)