Correlations between dislocation density evolution and spall strengths of Cu/Ta multilayered systems at the atomic scales: The role of spacing of KS interfaces

The deformation and failure (spallation) behavior of Cu/Ta multilayered systems with Kurdjumov–Sachs (KS) orientation relationship is investigated at the atomic scales under shock loading conditions. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations investigate the role of spacing between KS interfaces on the nucleation, evolution and interaction of defect structures (dislocations) in the Cu/Ta multilayered microstructures with layer thicknesses ranging from 3 nm to 47 nm. The shock compression response and failure response is investigated using the computed values of the Hugoniot elastic limit (HEL) and the spall strengths, respectively. KS interfaces serve as strong barriers to dislocation propagation and transmission across the interface and the spacing of the interfaces is observed to influence the spall behavior. The variation of the spall strength values suggests a critical interface spacing of 6 nm, below which the spall strength of the multilayered microstructure is observed to be lower than that for single-crystal Cu for the same loading conditions. The correlations between the temporal evolution of densities of various types of dislocation at the spall planes for the various microstructures and the resulting values of the spall strengths provide a clear rationale for why a microstructure results in increased/decreased spall strength values for the multiphase system.