An approach to the study of the mechanisms of shear deformation in the bulk of face centered cubic (FCC) single crystals based on molecular dynamics simulation is proposed. Similar shear patterns obtained experimentally, and in simulations, allow consideration of the effect of crystallographic and geometric factors on deformation mechanisms. Deformation of single-crystal samples in the form of tetragonal prisms with {110} and {100} lateral faces and different height-to-width ratios was studied. The simulation showed that the sample vertices are the preferential sites for shear initiation. It was found that the formation of deformation domains and interaction of shear planes are caused by the geometry of shear planes in the bulk of the single crystal, i.e., by their location in relation to basic stress concentrators and by their orientations relative to the lateral faces. The deformation patterns obtained in the simulations were in good agreement with those observed in the experiments. The fractions of sliding dislocations and dislocation barriers were determined for different materials, taking into account the crystallographic and geometric factors.

Deformation pattern parameters have been studied on the faces of nickel single crystals using microinterferometer NewView 7200. The magnitude of shear displacement in structural elements of the deformation pattern has been determined. As shown, the shear traces transform into accommodation bands, meso- or macrobands as dependent on single crystal orientation with respect to load.