Second yield via dislocation-induced premelting in copper

Premelting or virtual melting was proposed previously as an important deformation mechanism for high strain-rate loading. However, two questions remain outstanding: how premelting occurs exactly, and whether it plays a role in plastic deformation independent of, parasitic on, or synergetic with, dislocation motion. By virtue of double-shock compression, our large-scale molecular dynamics simulations reveal two yields in single-crystal copper, with the first yield achieved via dislocation motion, and the second, via dislocation-induced premelting as well. The clean capture of melting during dislocation motion suggests that premelting occurs on slip planes and at their intersections, facilitating gliding and leading to yield together with dislocation motion.