Abstract
The mechanical properties and deformation mechanisms of Cu/Nb nanoscale metallic multilayers (NMMs) manufactured by accumulative roll bonding are studied at 25°C and 400°C. Cu/Nb NMMs with individual layer thicknesses between 7 nm and 63 nm were tested by in situ micropillar compression inside a scanning electron microscope. Yield strength, strain-rate sensitivities and activation volumes were obtained from the pillar compression tests. The deformed micropillars were examined under scanning and transmission electron microscopy in order to examine the deformation mechanisms active for different layer thicknesses and temperatures. The analysis suggests that room temperature deformation was determined by dislocation glide at larger layer thicknesses and interface-related mechanisms at the thinner layer thicknesses. The high-temperature compression tests, in contrast, revealed superior thermo-mechanical stability and strength retention for the NMMs with larger layer thicknesses with deformation controlled by dislocation glide. A remarkable transition in deformation mechanism occurred as the layer thickness decreased, to a deformation response controlled by diffusion processes along the interfaces, which resulted in temperature-induced softening. A deformation mechanism map, in terms of layer thickness and temperature, is proposed from the results obtained in this investigation.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2214-2226 |
| Number of pages | 13 |
| Journal | JOM |
| Volume | 69 |
| Issue number | 11 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 1 2017 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This investigation was supported by the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Advanced Grant VIRMETAL, Grant Agreement No. 669141). IJB acknowledges financial support from the National Science Foundation Designing Materials to Revolutionize and Engineer our Future (DMREF) program (NSF CMMI-1729887). Useful discussions during the course of this work from Prof. Sybrand van der Zwaag are gratefully acknowledged. This work was performed, in part, at the Center for Integrated Nanotechnologies, an Office of Science User Facility operated for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science. Los Alamos National Laboratory, an affirmative action equal opportunity employer, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, for the National Nuclear Security Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract DE-AC52-06NA25396.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (outside the U.S.).