Molecular dynamics study of the mechanics for Ni single-wall nanowires

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations based upon embedded atom method (EAM) potential are employed to study the fracture behavior of Ni single-wall nanotube ( m , n ) with a linear strand at the center at temperature of 4 K. An ( m , n ) nanowire consists of m close-packed strands and n defines the chirality. The results reveal that ( 6 , 6 ) structure has the highest yielding stress level and Youngʹs modulus level. At constant close-packed strands m, the Youngʹs modulus of the nanowire increases as the wire radius increases. The ( 5 , 5 ) and ( 6 , 6 ) nanowires fracture suddenly beyond yielding point with little plastic deformation. The ( 7 , 4 ) nanowire shows the highest plasticity among all simulated nanowires for its maximum strain exceeds to 0.27.