Material Characterization of Single Crystalline Cu Subjected to High Strain Rates and High Temperatures for Multiscale Simulation

Abstract

The material characterization of single crystalline Cu columns was numerically carried out at the submicroscopic level. A molecular dynamics (MD) simulation was employed using the embedded-atom method (EAM) interatomic potential between a pair of Cu atoms to describe the interactions among Cu atoms. First, the relationship between mechanical properties and factors affecting their behavior were numerically investigated using a crystal structure including several defects. The factors were specimen size, strain rate, and temperature. As the specimen size increased the normalized yield stress decreased, which was similar to results obtained at other length-scale. The yield stress tended to lead to exponential strain rate-hardening and a linear temperature-softening. Next, material characterization was conducted based on these results. These computational results can lead to the development of an in silico platform to characterize material properties and MD simulation can lay the groundwork for multi-scale modeling and simulation.