Size-dependent transition of deformation mechanism, and nonlinear elasticity in Ni3Al nanowires

A size-dependent transition of deformation mechanism is revealed in Ni3Al nanowire under atomistic uniaxial tension. Deformation twinning is replaced by phase transformation when the diameter of Ni3Al nanowire reduces to a critical value near 4 nm. Enhanced size-dependent nonlinear elasticity is observed in the nanowires, in comparison to their bulk counterpart which is benchmarked by combined density functional and atomistic study. This study provide fundamental understanding on the size-dependent deformation mechanisms of nanostructured alloys. (C) 2013 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4789528]