LASER COMPRESSION OF NANOCRYSTALLINE METALS

Shock compression in nanocrystalline nickel is simulated over a range of pressures (10-80 GPa) and compared with experimental results. Laser compression carried out at Omega and Janus yields new information on the deformation mechanisms of nanocrystalline Ni. Although conventional deformation does not produce hardening, the extreme regime imparted by laser compression generates an increase in hardness, attributed to the residual dislocations observed in the structure by TEM. An analytical model is applied to predict the critical pressure for the onset of twinning in nanocrystalline nickel. The slip-twinning transition pressure is shifted from 20 GPa, for polycrystalline Ni, to 80 GPa, for Ni with g. s. of 10 nm. Contributions to the net strain from the different mechanisms of plastic deformation (partials, perfect dislocations, twinning, and grain boundary shear) were quantified in the nanocrystalline samples through MD calculations. The effect of release, a phenomenon often neglected in MD simulations, on dislocation behavior was established. A large fraction of the dislocations generated at the front are annihilated.