Atomistic simulation of dislocation interactions with a Σ = 5 (210) grain boundary during nanoindentation of Ni

Molecular dynamics simulations of nanoindentation were performed using embedded atom potentials. The indentation was simulated on a Ni substrate using a diamond-like spherical indenter. In this study, we focused on the interaction of a Σ=5 (210) grain boundary with the dislocations that were nucleated and expanded as loops under the indenter during nanoindentation. The results showed that dislocation loops were nucleated beneath the surface and propagated on multiple {111} slip planes. These dislocations impinged into the grain boundary in the course of nanoindentation. The lattice dislocations changed the atom configuration at the boundary region as they merged into the grain boundary and at later stages they transmitted across the grain boundary. The results also showed that the presence of a grain boundary affected the indenting speed and dislocation motion during nanoindentation, with the grain boundary retarding the indentation process.