The anisotropy in homogeneous dislocation nucleation, caused by nano-indentation of various crystallographic surfaces of perfect single crystals was studied. The interatomic potential finite-element model was used to extend the computational cell-size to the micron-scale in order to eliminate boundary effects. Simulation results revealed that a significant anisotropy existed with regard to the critical indentation depth, the critical resolved shear stress and the critical indentation hardness. The calculated indentation moduli for the (001), (011) and (111) surfaces fitted the experimental data well.

Anisotropy in Homogeneous Dislocation Nucleation by Nanoindentation of Single Crystal Cu. X.H.Liu, J.F.Gu, Y.Shen, C.F.Chen: Scripta Materialia, 2008, 58[7], 564-7