High Strain Rate Behavior of Nanoporous Tantalum

Nano-scale failure under extreme conditions is not well understood. In addition to porosity arising from mechanical failure at high strain rates, porous structures also develop due to radiation damage. Therefore, understanding the role of porosity on mechanical behavior is important for the assessment and development of materials like metallic foams, and materials for new fission and fusion reactors, with improved mechanical properties. We carry out molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of a Tantalum (a model body-centered cubic metal) crystal with a collection of nanovoids under compression. The effects of high strain rate, ranging from $10^{7}$$s^{-1}$ to $10^{10}$$s^{-1}$, on the stress strain curve and on dislocation activity are examined. We find massive total dislocation densities, and estimate a much lower density of mobile dislocations, due to the formation of junctions. Despite the large stress and strain rate, we do not observe twin formation, since nanopores are effective dislocation production sources. A significant fraction of dislocations survive unloading, unlike what happens in fcc metals, and future experiments might be able to study similar recovered samples and find clues to their plastic behavior during loading.