Atomic-scale anisotropy of nanoscratch behavior of single crystal iron

In this paper a parallel molecular dynamics (MD) model has been developed to investigate the nanoscratch process of single crystal iron. The simulations were performed for two cases with different crystallographic orientations and scratch directions. In Case I the scratch plane is (1 0 0) and the scratch direction is [0 0 1]. In Case II the scratch plane and the scratch direction are (1,−1,2) and [1 1 1], respectively. To validate the MD simulation the nanoscratch testing was conducted using the TriboIndenter. The simulation results reveal that the vertical force and the lateral force tend to increase with the scratch displacement for both cases. Case I has smaller forces than Case II. However, the coefficient of friction for both cases is similar, which is in good agreement with the experimental value. The crystallographic orientation also affects the scratch hardness. The scratch hardness of Case I is smaller than that of Case II.