Atomistic simulations of grain boundary transformation under high pressures in MgO

This study focuses on transformation of grain boundary (GB) structures under high pressures up to 60 GPa by using a simulated annealing technique with molecular dynamics and lattice statics calculations for various symmetric tilt GBs (STGBs) of MgO. It is found that except for the Σ3(111)/[11¯0] that is a rather stable GB, all the STGBs studied transform into a metastable structure more than once at threshold pressures. In addition, the GBs with an open-core structure and small tilt angle are found to be more “flexible” to transform into different structures than the GBs with a dense structure. For polycrystalline MgO, therefore, GBs may also exhibit GB transformation under high pressures and flexible GBs may govern overall transformation and deformation. These findings also suggest that polycrystals sintered at high pressures consist of more pressure-resistant GBs than those at normal pressures.