RT Journal Article ID 5791d06c7a034ea5 A1 Gan, Yong A1 Chen, Zhen T1 A Study on the Collapse of Self-Similar Hardening Behavior of Nanostructures JF International Journal for Multiscale Computational Engineering JO JMC YR 2009 FD 2009-06-17 VO 7 IS 3 SP 195 OP 204 K1 size effect K1 nanostructure K1 plasticity K1 molecular dynamics AB The rate-dependent tensile responses of nanofilms and nanowires made of tungsten, copper, and gold, respectively, are investigated with the molecular dynamics method to understand the collapse of self-similar hardening (smaller is stronger) behavior of nanostructures. It is shown that such collapse is strongly dependent on material properties and specimen geometry. It is also demonstrated that the critical length scale characterizing the collapse of self-similar hardening decreases with the increase of strain rate. The plastic deformations of tungsten nanostructures and copper nanowires are in agreement with the dislocation starvation model for the self-similar hardening behavior, while the observed deformations of gold specimens and copper nanfilms imply that the phenomenon of "smaller is softer" is mainly due to the surface effects. PB Begell House LK https://www.dl.begellhouse.com/journals/61fd1b191cf7e96f,0dfc4ca83265a62d,5791d06c7a034ea5.html