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Spontaneous Thermal Runaway as an Ultimate Failure Mechanism of Materials

S. Braeck and Y. Y. Podladchikov
Phys. Rev. Lett. 98, 095504 – Published 2 March 2007

Abstract

The first theoretical estimate of the shear strength of a perfect crystal was given by Frenkel [Z. Phys. 37, 572 (1926)]. By assuming that two rigid atomic rows in the crystal would move over each other along a slip plane, he derived the ultimate shear strength to be about one-tenth of the shear modulus. Here we present a theoretical study showing that catastrophic failure of viscoelastic materials may occur below Frenkel’s ultimate limit as a result of thermal runaway. The thermal runaway failure mechanism exhibits progressive localization of the strain and temperature profiles in space, thereby producing a narrow region of highly deformed material, i.e., a shear band. We calculate the maximum shear strength σc of materials and then demonstrate the relevance of this new concept for material failure known to occur at scales ranging from nanometers to kilometers.

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  • Received 6 September 2006

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.98.095504

©2007 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

S. Braeck* and Y. Y. Podladchikov

  • Physics of Geological Processes (PGP), University of Oslo, P.O. Box 1048 Blindern, N-0316 Oslo, Norway

  • *Electronic address: simen.brack@fys.uio.no

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Issue

Vol. 98, Iss. 9 — 2 March 2007

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