Interactions between displacement cascades and Σ3 ⟨110⟩ tilt grain boundaries in Cu

With large-scale molecular dynamics simulations, we investigate systematically the interaction of displacement cascades with a set of Sigma 3 < 110 > tilt grain boundaries (GBs) in Cu bicrystals at low ambient temperatures, as regards irradiation-induced defect production/absorption and GB migration/faceting. Except for coherent twin boundary, GBs exhibit pronounced preferential absorption of interstitials, which depends on initial primary knock-on atom distance from GB plane and inclination angle. GB migration occurs when displacement cascades overlap with a GB plane, as induced by recrystallization of thermal spike, and concurrent asymmetric grain growth. Faceting occurs via expanding coherent twin boundaries for asymmetric GBs. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.