Comparing grain boundary energies in face-centered cubic metals: Al, Au, Cu and Ni

The energy of 388 grain boundaries in Al, Au, Cu and Ni were calculated using atomistic simulations. Grain boundary energies in different elements are strongly correlated. Consistent with a dislocation model for grain boundary structure, the boundary energy scales with the shear modulus. Boundaries with substantial stacking fault character scale with the stacking fault energy. There is more scatter in the data for Al, which has a high stacking fault energy, than for the low stacking fault energy elements.