Elastic, elastic–plastic properties of Ag, Cu and Ni nanowires by the bending test using molecular dynamics simulations

Abstract

This paper presents the theoretical mechanical properties of Ag, Cu and Ni nanowires. To obtain theoretical mechanical properties of these metallic nanowires, a mechanical bending test of double clamped beam configuration (Gere and Timoshenko, 1990; Wu et al., 2005; Deb Nath and Kim, 2012) is carried out by the molecular dynamic simulation using embedded atom method (EAM) potential (Adams et al., 1989) by Verlet algorithm. Effects of temperatures on the force displacement relationship of the loading zone of different metallic nanowires are investigated. Young’s modulus and yield strength of different metallic nanowires are obtained from the force–displacement relationship at their loading points using the classical theory of continuum mechanics. Effect of wire diameters, temperatures on the Young’s modulus and yield strength of Ag, Cu, and Ni nanowires are briefly discussed. Using the centro symmetry parameters, nucleation and gliding of dislocations on the loading zone of different metallic nanowires are visualized to describe their plasticity and fracture in details.