Plastic deformation of bunsenite (NiO) at temperatures below 1 050 °C

Overview & Synopsis

Constant strain rate compression tests along < 100 > and < 111 > have been performed on NiO single crystals (ε ∼ 7 x 10-5 s-1). Yield stresses, work hardening rates and thermal activation parameters have been measured between 77 K and 1 323 K. The flow-stress for samples compressed along ( 100 〉 shows an anomaly at the Néel temperature much smaller than the one previously published [3, 5]. The plastic anisotropy is compared to other ionic compounds and the hardening mechanism are discussed based on mechanical data.