Effects of temperature and FCC phase size on the deformation mechanism of pure titanium nanopillars: A molecular dynamics simulation

The mechanism of plastic deformation under tensile and compressive loading of hexagonal close-packed (HCP)/face-centered cubic (FCC) biphasic titanium (Ti) nanopillars at different temperatures (70 K, 150 K, 300 K and 400 K) and different FCC phase sizes (2 nm, 4 nm, 6 nm and 8 nm) was investigated by molecular dynamics (MD). The plastic deformation is mainly concentrated in the FCC phase during compression loading. The HCP/FCC interface is the main source of [Formula: see text] Shockley partial dislocations. As the temperature increases, the dislocation nucleation rate increases and the surface dislocation source is activated. During tensile loading, it is more likely that the Shockley partial dislocations react with each other in the FCC phase to form Lomer–Cottrell sessile dislocations and stacking fault (SF) nets. When the temperature is reduced to 70 K, tensile twins are formed at the phase interface. The plastic deformation is dominated by twins and [Formula: see text] dislocation slip occurs in the HCP phase. The effect of the FCC phase size on the plastic deformation mechanism of the nanopillar is strong. The FCC phase is transformed into the HCP phase when the FCC phase size in the nanopillar is reduced to 4 nm under compressive loading. However, twin deformation occurs at the HCP/FCC interface when the FCC phase size is reduced to 2 nm under tensile loading.