Atomic Scale Origin of Crack Resistance in Brittle Fracture

A. Mattoni, L. Colombo, and F. Cleri
Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 115501 – Published 6 September 2005

Abstract

We investigate the physical meaning of the intrinsic crack resistance in the Griffith theory of brittle fracture by means of atomic-scale simulations. By taking cubic SiC as a typical brittle material, we show that the widely accepted identification of intrinsic crack resistance with the free surface energy underestimates the energy-release rate. The strain dependence of the Young modulus and surface energy, as well as allowance for lattice trapping, improve the estimate of the crack resistance. In the smallest scale limit, crack resistance can be fitted by an empirical elastoplastic model.

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  • Received 15 January 2005

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.115501

©2005 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

A. Mattoni1, L. Colombo1,*, and F. Cleri2

  • 1INFM-SLACS Sardinian Laboratory for Computational Materials Science and Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Cagliari, Cittadella Universitaria, I-09042 Monserrato (Ca), Italy
  • 2ENEA, Unità Materiali e Nuove Tecnologie, and INFM Centro Ricerche della Casaccia, CP 2400, I-00100 Roma, Italy

  • *Corresponding author. Email address: luciano.colombo@dsf.unica.it

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Issue

Vol. 95, Iss. 11 — 9 September 2005

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