Possible routes were considered that led to transitions in the deformation mechanisms of face-centered cubic metals and alloys. It was proposed that, when grain sizes were below a critical size of 100nm, deformation could occur via the emission of stacking faults from grain boundaries and into the intragranular space. A model was developed that accounted for the observed experimental data and which showed, in turn, how the stacking-fault energy and the shear modulus determined the strength. A mechanism was proposed, based upon this model, for transitions at both high and quasi-static strain rates; including grain-boundary sliding.

Deformation Mechanism Transitions in Nanoscale FCC Metals. R.J.Asaro, P.Krysl, B.Kad: Philosophical Magazine Letters, 2003, 83[12], 733-43