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Dynamic Fracture Mechanisms in Nanostructured and Amorphous Silica Glasses Million-Atom Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 March 2011

Laurent Van Brutzel
Affiliation:
Concurrent Computing Laboratory for Materials Simulations, Biological Computation and Visualization Center, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Department of Computer Science, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803
Cindy L. Rountree
Affiliation:
Concurrent Computing Laboratory for Materials Simulations, Biological Computation and Visualization Center, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Department of Computer Science, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803
Rajiv K. Kalia
Affiliation:
Concurrent Computing Laboratory for Materials Simulations, Biological Computation and Visualization Center, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Department of Computer Science, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803
Aiichiro Nakano
Affiliation:
Concurrent Computing Laboratory for Materials Simulations, Biological Computation and Visualization Center, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Department of Computer Science, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803
Priya Vashishta
Affiliation:
Concurrent Computing Laboratory for Materials Simulations, Biological Computation and Visualization Center, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Department of Computer Science, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803
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Abstract

Parallel molecular dynamics simulations are performed to investigate dynamic fracture in bulk and nanostructured silica glasses at room temperature and 1000 K. In bulk silica the crack front develops multiple branches and nanoscale pores open up ahead of the crack tip. Pores coalesce and then they merge with the advancing crack-front to cause cleavage fracture. The calculated fracture toughness is in good agreement with experiments. In nanostrucutred silica the crack-front meanders along intercluster boundaries, merging with nanoscale pores in these regions to cause intergranular fracture. The failure strain in nanostructured silica is significantly larger than in the bulk systems.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2002

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References

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