Work hardening of polycrystalline Cu with nanoscale twins

  Engineering twin boundaries at the nanometer scale is regarded as an effective approach to achieve high strength while maintaining a substantial work-hardening ability. In this paper, the effects of twin thickness, grain size as well as strain rate on the work-hardening behavior of polycrystalline pure Cu with nanoscale twins are analyzed. The contribution of four possible work-hardening components (Types I–IV) to the hardening and softening process of nanotwinned Cu is also discussed.