The effect of stacking fault energy on the tensile stress–strain behavior of nanocrystalline face-centered cubic metals was investigated. The stacking fault energy of Ni was decreased by alloying with Cu or Fe. It was found that, as predicted by a recent

simulation study, decreasing the stacking fault energy increased the strain hardening rate of the nanocrystalline face-centered cubic metals. The effect was more pronounced in the Ni–copper alloy, which had a smaller average grain size.

Effect of Stacking Fault Energy on Plastic Deformation of Nanocrystalline Face-Centered Cubic Metals. F.Ebrahimi, Z.Ahmed, H.Li: Applied Physics Letters, 2004, 85[17], 3749-51