Texture evolution of Cu nanopowder under uniaxial compression

Abstract

We investigate compaction and deformation of ultrafine Cu nanopowder initially with randomly oriented grains under uniaxial compression up to 100 GPa, using large-scale molecular dynamics simulations. On the basis of Euler angles, we perform three-dimensional orientation mapping and texture analysis, including orientation distribution function (ODF) and inverse pole figures. The compression induces apparent, though weak, ⟨110⟩ fiber texture. Deformation is achieved via deformation twinning, dislocation slip and GB sliding. The ⟨110⟩ texture can be traced back to grains initially with ⟨100⟩ (or similar) orientations and high Schmid factors. Deformation twinning and dislocation slip lead to the ⟨110⟩ fiber texture, and the former plays the dominant role in ultrafine nanocrystalline Cu.