Anomalous stress response of ultrahard WBn compounds

Li, Quan; Zhou, Dan; Zheng, Weitao; Ma, Yanming; Chen, Changfeng

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.185502

Title: Anomalous stress response of ultrahard ${WB}_{n}$ compounds

Journal Article · Thu Oct 29 00:00:00 EDT 2015 · Physical Review Letters

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.115.185502 · OSTI ID:1332449

Li, Quan ^[1]; Zhou, Dan ^[2]; Zheng, Weitao ^[3]; Ma, Yanming ^[3]; Chen, Changfeng ^[4]

Jilin Univ., Changchun (China); Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV (United States); UNLV
Changchun Univ. of Science and Technology, Changchun (China); Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV (United States)
Jilin Univ., Changchun (China)
Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV (United States)

Boron-rich tungsten borides are premier prototypes of a new class of ultrahard compounds. Here, we show by first-principles calculations that their stress-strain relations display surprisingly diverse and anomalous behavior under a variety of loading conditions. Most remarkable is the dramatically changing bonding configurations and deformation modes with rising boron concentration in WB_n (n=2, 3, 4), resulting in significantly different stress responses and unexpected indentation strength variations. This novel phenomenon stems from the peculiar structural arrangements in tungsten borides driven by boron’s ability to form unusually versatile bonding states. Our results elucidate the intriguing deformation mechanisms that define a distinct type of ultrahard material. Here, these new insights underscore the need to explore unconventional structure-property relations in a broad range of transition-metal light-element compounds.

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Research Organization:: Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)

Grant/Contract Number:: NA0001982

OSTI ID:: 1332449

Journal Information:: Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 18 Vol. 115; ISSN 0031-9007; ISSN PRLTAO

Publisher:: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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