Affiliations: Department of Nanomechanics, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Hironori Tohmyoh, Department of Nanomechanics, Tohoku University, Aoba 6-6-01, Aramaki, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8579, Japan. E-mail: tohmyoh@ism.mech.tohoku.ac.jp.
Abstract: In the Joule heat welding of two metallic wires, the melting phenomenon at the nanocontact between the wires is very important. If the current supply is insufficient, the nanocontact does not melt and the phenomenon is similar to the crack problem in linear elastic fracture mechanics where a crack does not propagate if the applied force is too low. From the seeming analogy between the melting phenomenon and the crack problem, a parameter which governs the melting phenomenon at the nanocontact is considered.
