Abstract
Using molecular dynamics simulation, we study the indentation of a metal–ceramics (Al/Si) composite and compare it to that of the pure elements. An Al/Si interface running perpendicular to the surface is indented centrally. We find that—due to its higher stiffness and yield strength—Si expands into the Al side. As a consequence, the plasticity on the Al side is enhanced, leading to the formation of complex dislocation networks. On the Si side, the phase transformation from cubic diamond to bct5 structure, and subsequent amorphization near the indenter are accelerated, while the number of dislocations formed in the surviving cubic diamond phase is reduced. In both materials, the mobility of the dislocations is enhanced, in particular because the dislocations glide easily on the interface; as a consequence the composite is softer than the average of its constituents.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abram R, Chrobak D, Nowak R (2017) Origin of a nanoindentation pop-in event in silicon crystal. Phys Rev Lett 118:095502. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.095502
Alabd Alhafez I, Brodyanski A, Kopnarski M, Urbassek HM (2017) Influence of tip geometry on nanoscratching. Tribol Lett 65(1):26. doi:10.1007/s11249-016-0804-6
Alcalá J, Dalmau R, Franke O, Biener M, Biener J, Hodge A (2012) Planar defect nucleation and annihilation mechanisms in nanocontact plasticity of metal surfaces. Phys Rev Lett 109:075502
Baskes MI, Angelo JE, Bisson CL (1994) Atomistic calculations of composite interfaces. Model Simul Mater Sci Eng 2(3A):505–518
Bhattacharya S, Riahi AR, Alpas AT (2009) Indentation-induced subsurface damage in silicon particles of Al–Si alloys. Mat Sci Eng A 527:387–396
Bhushan B, Li X (1997) Micromechanical and tribological characterization of doped single-crystal silicon and polysilicon films for microelectromechanical systems devices. J Mater Res 12:54–63
Boyer LL, Kaxiras E, Feldman JL, Broughton JQ, Mehl MJ (1991) New low-energy crystal structure for silicon. Phys Rev Lett 67:715–718. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.67.715
Cai W, Nix WD (2016) Imperfections in crystalline solids. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Chang L, Zhang L (2009) Mechanical behaviour characterisation of silicon and effect of loading rate on pop-in: a nanoindentation study under ultra-low loads. Mat Sci Eng A 506:125–129
Chen M, Meng-Burany X, Perry TA, Alpas AT (2008) Micromechanisms and mechanics of ultra-mild wear in Al–Si alloys. Acta Mater 56:5605–5616
Chrobak D, Kim KH, Kurzydlowski KJ, Nowak R (2013) Nanoindentation experiments with different loading rate distinguish the mechanism of incipient plasticity. Appl Phys Lett 103:072101
Chrobak D, Tymiak N, Beaber A, Ugurlu O, Gerberich WW, Nowak R (2011) Deconfinement leads to changes in the nanoscale plasticity of silicon. Nat Nanotechnol 6:480–484
Clarke DR, Kroll MC, Kirchner PD, Cook RF, Hockey BJ (1988) Amorphization and conductivity of silicon and germanium induced by indentation. Phys Rev Lett 60:2156–2159. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.60.2156
Domnich V, Gogotsi Y, Dub S (2000) Effect of phase transformations on the shape of the unloading curve in the nanoindentation of silicon. Appl Phys Lett 76(16):2214–2216. doi:10.1063/1.126300
Du X, Zhao H, Zhang L, Yang Y, Xu H, Fu H, Li L (2015) Molecular dynamics investigations of mechanical behaviours in monocrystalline silicon due to nanoindentation at cryogenic temperatures and room temperature. Sci Rep 5:16275. doi:10.1038/srep16275
Dupont V, Sansoz F (2006) Grain boundary structure evolution in nanocrystalline Al by nanoindentation simulations. In: Materials research society symposium proceedings 903:0903–Z06–05.1
Elmadagli M, Perry T, Alpas AT (2007) A parametric study of the relationship between microstructure and wear resistance of Al–Si alloys. Wear 262:79–92
Fang TH, Wu JH (2008) Molecular dynamics simulations on nanoindentation mechanisms of multilayered films. Comput Mater Sci 43(4):785–790. doi:10.1016/j.commatsci.2008.01.066
Feng Q, Song X, Xie H, Wang H, Liu X, Yin F (2017) Deformation and plastic coordination in WC–Co composite—molecular dynamics simulation of nanoindentation. Mater Des 120:193–203. doi:10.1016/j.matdes.2017.02.010
Fischer-Cripps AC (2004) Nanoindentation, 2nd edn. Springer, New York
Gall K, Horstemeyer MF, Van Schilfgaarde M, Baskes MI (2000) Atomistic simulations on the tensile debonding of an aluminum-silicon interface. J Mech Phys Sol 48(10):2183–2212. doi:10.1016/S0022-5096(99)00086-1
Gao Y, Ruestes CJ, Tramontina DR, Urbassek HM (2015) Comparative simulation study of the structure of the plastic zone produced by nanoindentation. J. Mech Phys Sol 75:58–75. doi:10.1016/j.jmps.2014.11.005
Godet J, Pizzagalli L, Brochard S, Beauchamp P (2004) Theoretical study of dislocation nucleation from simple surface defects in semiconductors. Phys Rev B 70:054109. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.70.054109
Goel S, Faisal NH, Luo X, Yan J, Agrawal A (2014) Nanoindentation of polysilicon and single crystal silicon: molecular dynamics simulation and experimental validation. J Phys D 47:275304
Goel S, Kovalchenko A, Stukowski A, Cross G (2016) Influence of microstructure on the cutting behaviour of silicon. Acta Mater 105:464–478
Goel S, Luo X, Agrawal A, Reuben RL (2015) Diamond machining of silicon: a review of advances in molecular dynamics simulation. Int J Mach Tool Manu 88:131–164
Gouldstone A, Chollacoop N, Dao M, Li J, Minor AM, Shen YL (2007) Indentation across size scales and disciplines: recent developments in experimentation and modeling. Acta Mater 55:4015–4039
Hale LM, Zhang DB, Zhou X, Zimmerman JA, Moody NR, Dumitrica T, Ballarini R, Gerberich WW (2012) Dislocation morphology and nucleation within compressed si nanospheres: a molecular dynamics study. Comput Mater Sci 54:280–286. doi:10.1016/j.commatsci.2011.11.004
Hasnaoui A, Derlet PM, Van Swygenhoven H (2004) Interaction between dislocations and grain boundaries under an indenter—a md study. Acta Mater 52:2251–2258
Joseph S, Kumar S, Bhadram VS, Narayana C (2015) Stress states in individual si particles of a cast al-si alloy: micro-Raman analysis and microstructure based modeling. J Alloys Compds 625:296–308. doi:10.1016/j.jallcom.2014.10.207
Kailer A, Gogotsi YG, Nickel KG (1997) Phase transformations of silicon caused by contact loading. J Appl Phys 81(7):3057–3063. doi:10.1063/1.364340
Kelchner CL, Plimpton SJ, Hamilton JC (1998) Dislocation nucleation and defect structure during surface indentation. Phys Rev B 58:11085–11088
Kim DE, Oh SI (2006) Atomistic simulation of structural phase transformations in monocrystalline silicon induced by nanoindentation. Nanotechnology 17:2259–2265
Kim DE, Oh SI (2008) Deformation pathway to high-pressure phases of silicon during nanoindentation. J Appl Phys 104:013502
Lee Y, Park JY, Kim SY, Jun S, Im S (2005) Atomistic simulations of incipient plasticity under Al(111) nanoindentation. Mech Mater 37:1035–1046
Li Cx, Meng Qy, Li G, Yang Lj (2006) Atomistic simulation of the \(60^\circ \) dislocation mobility in silicon crystal. Superlattices Microstruct 40(2):113–118. doi:10.1016/j.spmi.2006.05.004
Li J (2003) Atomeye: An efficient atomistic configuration viewer. Model Simul Mater Sci Eng 11:173. http://li.mit.edu/Archive/Graphics/A/
Li J, Guo J, Luo H, Fang Q, Wu H, Zhang L, Liu Y (2016) Study of nanoindentation mechanical response of nanocrystalline structures using molecular dynamics simulations. Appl Surf Sci 364:190–200. doi:10.1016/j.apsusc.2015.12.145
Li J, Van Vliet KJ, Zhu T, Yip S, Suresh S (2002) Atomistic mechanisms governing elastic limit and incipient plasticity in crystals. Nature 418:307–310
Liu J, Zhang L, Song L, Meng L, Zeng Y, Wang M, Fang Y, Ma J (2014) Dislocation assisted face-centered-cubic/body-centered-cubic interface mixing during severe plastic deformation. J Alloys Compd 586:16–21. doi:10.1016/j.jallcom.2013.09.061
Lu C, Gao Y, Michal G, Deng G, Huynh NN, Zhu H, Liu X, Tieu AK (2009) Experiment and molecular dynamics simulation of nanoindentation of body centered cubic iron. J Nanosci Nanotechnol 9:7307–7313. doi:10.1166/jnn.2009.1793
Mendelev MI, Kramer MJ, Becker CA, Asta M (2008) Analysis of semi-empirical interatomic potentials appropriate for simulation of crystalline and liquid Al and Cu. Philos Mag 88:1723–1750
Noreyan A, Qi Y, Stoilov V (2008) Critical shear stresses at aluminum–silicon interfaces. Acta Mater 56(14):3461–3469. doi:10.1016/j.actamat.2008.03.037
Piltz RO, Maclean JR, Clark SJ, Ackland GJ, Hatton PD, Crain J (1995) Structure and properties of silicon XII: a complex tetrahedrally bonded phase. Phys Rev B 52:4072–4085. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.52.4072
Plimpton S (1995) Fast parallel algorithms for short-range molecular dynamics. J Comput Phys 117:1–19. http://lammps.sandia.gov/
Rosenberger MR, Forlerer E, Schvezov CE (2007) Modeling the micro-indentation of metal matrix composites. Mat Sci Eng A 463(1–2):275–283. doi:10.1016/j.msea.2006.09.119
Ruestes CJ, Bringa EM, Gao Y, Urbassek HM (2017) Molecular dynamics modeling of nanoindentation. In: Tiwari A, Natarajan S (eds) Applied nanoindentation in advanced materials. Wiley, Chichester, p 315
Saidi P, Frolov T, Hoyt JJ, Asta M (2014) An angular embedded atom method interatomic potential for the aluminum–silicon system. Model Simul Mater Sci Eng 22(5):055010
Salehinia I, Shao S, Wang J, Zbib HM (2015) Interface structure and the inception of plasticity in Nb/NbC nanolayered composites. Acta Mater 86:331–340. doi:10.1016/j.actamat.2014.12.026
Salehinia I, Wang J, Bahr DF, Zbib HM (2014) Molecular dynamics simulations of plastic deformation in Nb/NbC multilayers. Int J Plast 59:119–132. doi:10.1016/j.ijplas.2014.03.010
Shen YL, Blada CB, Williams JJ, Chawla N (2012) Cyclic indentation behavior of metal-ceramic nanolayered composites. Mater Sci Eng A 557:119–125. doi:10.1016/j.msea.2012.05.103
Shin I, Carter EA (2013) Possible origin of the discrepancy in peierls stresses of fcc metals: first-principles simulations of dislocation mobility in aluminum. Phys Rev B 88:064106. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.88.064106
Stillinger FH, Weber TA (1985) Computer simulation of local order in condensed phases of Si. Phys Rev B 31:5262–5271
Stukowski A (2010) Visualization and analysis of atomistic simulation data with OVITO—the open visualization tool. Model Simul Mater Sci Eng 18:015,012. http://www.ovito.org/
Stukowski A (2012) Structure identification methods for atomistic simulations of crystalline materials. Model Simul Mater Sci Eng 20:045021
Stukowski A, Arsenlis A (2012) On the elastic-plastic decomposition of crystal deformation at the atomic scale. Model Simul Mater Sci Eng 20:035012
Stukowski A, Bulatov VV, Arsenlis A (2012) Automated identification and indexing of dislocations in crystal interfaces. Model Simul Mater Sci Eng 20:085007
Su JF, Nie X, Stoilov V (2010) Characterization of fracture and debonding of Si particles in AlSi alloys. Mat Sci Eng A 527:7168–7175
Surappa MK, Rohatgi RK (1981) Preparation and properties of cast aluminium-ceramic particle composites. J Mater Sci 16:983–993
Szlufarska I (2006) Atomistic simulations of nanoindentation. Mater Today 9:42–50
Tersoff J (1989) Modeling solid-state chemistry: interatomic potentials for multicomponent systems. Phys Rev B 39:5566–5568
Tsuru T, Kaji Y, Matsunaka D, Shibutani Y (2010) Incipient plasticity of twin and stable/unstable grain boundaries during nanoindentation in copper. Phys Rev B 82:024101. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.82.024101
Tsuru T, Shibutani Y (2006) Atomistic simulations of elastic deformation and dislocation nucleation in Al under indentation-induced stress distribution. Model Simul Mater Sci Eng 14:S55
Tsuru T, Shibutani Y (2007) Anisotropic effects in elastic and incipient plastic deformation under (001), (110), and (111) nanoindentation of Al and Cu. Phys Rev B 75:035415
Tsuru T, Shibutani Y, Kaji Y (2009) Fundamental interaction process between pure edge dislocation and energetically stable grain boundary. Phys Rev B 79:012104. doi:10.1103/PhysRevB.79.012104
Wagner RJ, Ma L, Tavazza F, Levine LE (2008) Dislocation nucleation during nanoindentation of aluminum. J Appl Phys 104(11):114311. doi:10.1063/1.3021305
Ward DK, Curtin WA, Qi Y (2006) Aluminum-silicon interfaces and nanocomposites: a molecular dynamics study. Compos Sci Technol 66(9):1151–1161. doi:10.1016/j.compscitech.2005.10.024
Ward DK, Curtin WA, Qi Y (2006) Mechanical behavior of aluminum-silicon nanocomposites: a molecular dynamics study. Acta Mater 54(17):4441–4451. doi:10.1016/j.actamat.2006.05.022
Xia S, Qi Y, Perry T, Kim KS (2009) Strength characterization of Al/Si interfaces: a hybrid method of nanoindentation and finite element analysis. Acta Mater 57(3):695–707. doi:10.1016/j.actamat.2008.10.011
Yang B, Vehoff H (2007) Dependence of nanohardness upon indentation size and grain size—a local examination of the interaction between dislocations and grain boundaries. Acta Mater 55:849–856
Yang W, Ayoub G, Salehinia I, Mansoor B, Zbib H (2017) Deformation mechanisms in Ti/TiN multilayer under compressive loading. Acta Mater 122:99–108. doi:10.1016/j.actamat.2016.09.039
Yuan Z, Li F, Zhang P, Chen B, Xue F (2014) Mechanical properties study of particles reinforced aluminum matrix composites by micro-indentation experiments. Chin J Aeronaut 27(2):397–406. doi:10.1016/j.cja.2014.02.010
Yuan Z, Li F, Zhang P, Chen B, Xue F, Hussain MZ (2014) Further investigation of particle reinforced aluminum matrix composites by indentation experiments. J Mater Res 29:586–595
Zhang HL (2011) Calculation of shuffle \(60^{\circ }\) dislocation width and peierls barrier and stress for semiconductors silicon and germanium. Eur Phys J B 81(2):179–183. doi:10.1140/epjb/e2011-10932-5
Zhang Z, Stukowski A, Urbassek HM (2016) Interplay of dislocation-based plasticity and phase transformation during Si nanoindentation. Comput Mater Sci 119:82–89. doi:10.1016/j.commatsci.2016.03.039
Ziegenhain G, Hartmaier A, Urbassek HM (2009) Pair vs many-body potentials: influence on elastic and plastic behavior in nanoindentation of fcc metals. J Mech Phys Sol 57:1514–1526. doi:10.1016/j.jmps.2009.05.011
Ziegenhain G, Urbassek HM (2009) Effect of material stiffness on hardness: a computational study based on model potentials. Philos Mag 89:2225–2238. doi:10.1080/14786430903022697
Ziegenhain G, Urbassek HM, Hartmaier A (2010) Influence of crystal anisotropy on elastic deformation and onset of plasticity in nanoindentation: a simulational study. J Appl Phys 107:061807
Acknowledgements
Simulations were performed at the High Performance Cluster Elwetritsch (RHRK, TU Kaiserslautern, Germany). We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft via the International Research and Training Group 2057.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhang, Z., Urbassek, H.M. Indentation into an Al/Si composite: enhanced dislocation mobility at interface. J Mater Sci 53, 799–813 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-017-1495-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-017-1495-6