Fracture in brittle materials: The atomic-scale viewpoint
Issue title: 11th International Conference on Fracture (ICF11), Torino, Italy, 20–25 March 2005. Mini-Symposium – “Complexity, Scaling and Non-linearity in the Mechanics of Advanced Materials”
Affiliations: INFM-SLACS Sardinian LAboratory for Computational Materials Science and Department of Physics, University of Cagliari, Cittadella Universitaria, I-09042 Monserrato (Ca), Italy | ENEA, Unità Materiali e Nuove Tecnologie, and INFM Centro Ricerche della Casaccia, CP 2400, I-00100 Roma, Italy
Abstract: We present the basic formalism, as well as the underlying physical picture of atomistic simulations, as applied to the investigation of materials mechanical behavior. In particular, we discuss brittle fracture in cubic silicon carbide, proving that atomistic simulations are not only consistent with elementary continuum fracture mechanics, but also do provide a better physical insight on atomic-scale features, e.g. lattice trapping. Finally, we show how atomistic simulations could be used as a provider of constitutive relations to be possibly used in continuum modeling.
