Modeling contrary size effects of tensile- and torsion-loaded oligocrystalline gold microwires

When Chen et al. (Acta Mater 87:78–85, 2015) investigated the deformation behavior of oligocrystalline gold microwires with varying diameters in both uniaxial tension and torsion, contrary size effects were observed for the different load cases. In accompanying microstructural studies it was found that the microwires of different thicknesses reveal distinctive differences in grain size and texture, respectively. As a consequence, a significant influence of these microstructural variations on the determined size effects was assumed. However, within the frame of their work, a direct confirmation could only be presented for the effect of the grain size. In the present work, the size-dependent mechanical response of the microwires is modeled with a gradient plasticity theory. By finite element simulations of simplified grain aggregates, the influence of the texture on the size effects is investigated under both loading conditions. It is shown that the experimentally observed contrary size effects can only be reproduced when taking into account the individual textures of the microwires of different thicknesses within the modeling.