Spalling fracture of Ni/Al nanolaminates influenced by chemical reaction

X Tian and MZ Xiang and JZ Cui and GY Ji and ZJ Fu, JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS, 130, 075103 (2021).

DOI: 10.1063/5.0056596

We investigate spalling behaviors of Ni/Al nanolaminates by molecular dynamics simulations. First, we discuss spalling damage distributions in shocked Ni/Al nanolaminates. Voids nucleate in Al layers, while no voids are located in Ni layers or along the Ni/Al interfaces. This is because the spall strength of single-crystalline Ni is higher than that of single-crystalline Al. We reveal influences of a shock-induced chemical reaction on dynamic spalling damage and fracture processes. An abnormal "decrease -> increase -> decrease" zigzag variation tendency of the spall strength of Ni/Al nanolaminates as the impact velocity increase is observed in our simulations, which resulted from combining effects of micro-structures, chemical reactions, and temperature softening. When the impacting intensity is relatively low, the spall strength of Ni/Al nanolaminates decreases as the impact velocity increases due to micro- structure effects. However, when the loading velocity increases to a certain magnitude (2.5 km/s), the intimate contact of liquid Al with amorphous Ni near the interface makes the chemical reaction rate increase rapidly to form a large amount of Ni/Al alloys and enhances the spall strength. Published under an exclusive license by AIP Publishing.

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