Stress-induced formation mechanism of stacking fault tetrahedra in nano-cutting of single crystal copper

Abstract

Stacking fault tetrahedra commonly existed in subsurface of deformed face center cubic metals, has great influence on machining precision and surface roughness in nano-cutting. Here we report, a stacking fault tetrahedra is formed in subsurface of workpiece during nano-cutting. The variation of cutting force and subsurface defects distribution are studied by using molecular dynamics simulation. The stress distribution is investigated which is calculated by virial stress and analyzed by static compression. The result shows that the cutting force has a rapidly increase in the initial stage and fluctuates at their equilibrium position at stable cutting stage, which is because of the energy accumulation and release leading to the dislocation emission. A typically stacking fault tetrahedra is nucleated in the subsurface defect layer, which is induced by the complex tension and compression stress. The stress-induced mechanism of stacking fault tetrahedra formation is investigated by atomic scale evolution and local stress distribution.