The growth of a void in a single crystal at high rates was studied using molecular dynamics based upon Finnis-Sinclair interatomic potentials for the body-centred cubic metals V, Nb, Mo, Ta, and W. The use of the Finnis-Sinclair potential enables the study of plasticity associated with void growth at the atomic level at room temperature and strain rates from 109/s down to 106/s and systems as large as 128 million atoms. The atomistic systems were observed to undergo a transition from twinning at the higher end of this range to dislocation flow at the lower end. The simulations were analysed for the specific mechanisms of plasticity associated with void growth as dislocation loops were punched out to accommodate the growing void. Also analysed was the process of nucleation and growth of voids in simulations of nanocrystalline Ta expanding at different strain rates. Differences in the plasticity associated with void growth in the body-centered cubic metals as compared to earlier studies of face-centred cubic metals were noted.

Void Growth in BCC Metals Simulated with Molecular Dynamics using the Finnis-Sinclair Potential. R.E.Rudd: Philosophical Magazine, 2009, 89[34-36], 3133-61