Molecular dynamics simulations of nanoindentation in Cr, Ni, and Ni/Cr bilayer films using a hard spherical potential

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of nanoindentation using the hard sphere potential were carried out for Cr, Ni and Ni/Cr bilayer thin films with interaction of BCC and FCC single-crystal and the contact between the Cr- Ni. On the other hand, fixed boundary conditions were used and the repulsive radial potential was employed for modeling the interaction between the tip and sample surface. Mechanical properties of the material at 300 K were obtained for Cr and Ni thin films and Ni/Cr bilayers. Hardness and elastic parameters were determined from the load-unload curves obtained by means of the simulations. These results show a better mechanical response in the case of bilayers compared to the Ni and Cr monolayers.