Mechanical behavior of twinned SiC nanowires under combined tension-torsion and compression-torsion strain

The mechanical behavior of twinned silicon carbide (SiC) nanowires under combined tension-torsion and compression-torsion is investigated using molecular dynamics simulations with an empirical potential. The simulation results show that both the tensile failure stress and buckling stress decrease under combined tension-torsional and combined compression-torsional strain, and they decrease with increasing torsional rate under combined loading. The torsion rate has no effect on the elastic properties of the twinned SiC nanowires. The collapse of the twinned nanowires takes place in a twin stacking fault of the nanowires. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3456002]