Molecular dynamics simulations showed clearly that the grain boundaries in nanocrystalline face-centered cubic metals generally exhibited a similar short-range structure to that of grain boundaries in normal polycrystalline materials. In the present metal, a change in deformation mechanism was observed. That is, at the smallest grain sizes, all of the deformation was accommodated by the grain boundaries and by grain-boundary sliding. At large grain sizes, a combination of sliding and intra-grain dislocation activity was observed.

Grain Boundary Structure and its Influence on Plastic Deformation of Polycrystalline FCC Metals at the Nanoscale - a Molecular Dynamics Study. H.Van Swygenhoven, A.Caro, D.Farkas: Scripta Materialia, 2001, 44[8-9], 1513–6