Atomic simulation of interaction mechanism between dislocation and graphene in graphene/aluminum composites

RQ Han and HY Song and MR An, COMPUTATIONAL MATERIALS SCIENCE, 197, 110604 (2021).

DOI: 10.1016/j.commatsci.2021.110604

Adjusting the arrangements of embedded graphene in the metal matrix is an important and valid method to improve the mechanical properties of graphene metal-matrix composites. Here, the deformation behavior and mechanical properties of graphene/aluminum composites with inclined graphene sheets under nanoindentation are investigated by molecular dynamics simulation. The results show that graphene has a strong blocking effect on dislocation movement, and the effect is related to the embedding depth of graphene and the lateral gap between graphene. There is a critical depth above which the value of the hardness of the composites increases with the decrease of depth, and under which the value of hardness decreases with the decrease of depth. The variation trend of the hardness of the composites with the embedding depth of graphene is related to the average dislocation density of the composites during plastic deformation. The results also indicate that as the lateral gap between graphene sheets increases, the hardness of the composites decreases. There is also a critical value of lateral gap above which the hardness of the composites suddenly drops sharply.

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