Tension-compression asymmetry and twin boundaries spacings effects in polycrystalline Ni nanowires

Tension-compression asymmetry could be a notable feature in many nanocrystalline (NC) materials. The scientific and practical research on the tension-compression asymmetry may play an important role of improving the mechanical behavior of NC materials. Using large-scale molecular dynamics (MD) simulations at the strain rate of 10⁹s^-1, both tension and compression tests are complemented in twin-structural polycrystalline Ni nanowires (NWs). The MD simulation suggests that twin boundaries spacing (TBS) has an interesting effect on the tension-compression asymmetry. For NW (radius = 9 nm) with different TBSs, the flow stresses are totally higher under compression than under tension. The asymmetry gets a minimum value at a particular TBS. Such results can be explained by the interplay of the work of dislocations mechanism under various TBSs and the free surface in NWs.