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Recent nanomechanical tests on submicron metal columns and wires have revealed a dramatic increase in yield strength with decreasing sample size. Here, we demonstrate that nanoporous metal foams can be envisioned as a three-dimensional network of ultrahigh-strength nanowires, thus bringing together two seemingly conflicting properties: high strength and high porosity. Specifically, we characterized the size-dependent mechanical properties of nanoporous gold using a combination of nanoindentation, column microcompression, and molecular dynamics simulations. We find that nanoporous gold can be as strong as bulk Au, despite being a highly porous material, and that the ligaments in nanoporous gold approach the theoretical yield strength of Au.

The elasticity of a solid can vary depending on its state of deformation. For example, metals will soften and polymers may stiffen as they are deformed to levels approaching failure. It is only when the deformation is infinitesimally small that elastic moduli can be considered constant, and hence the elasticity linear. Yet, many existing theories model fracture using linear elasticity, despite the fact that materials will experience extreme deformations at crack tips. Here we show by large-scale atomistic simulations that the elastic behaviour observed at large strains--hyperelasticity--can play a governing role in the dynamics of fracture, and that linear theory is incapable of fully capturing all fracture phenomena. We introduce the concept of a characteristic length scale for the energy flux near the crack tip, and demonstrate that the local hyperelastic wave speed governs the crack speed when the hyperelastic zone approaches this energy length scale.

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We have coupled the continuum, the atomistic, and the quantum descriptions of matter for a unified treatment of the dynamic fracture of silicon. We have devised schemes for handshaking between the finite-element, molecular dynamics and semi-empirical tight-binding representations. We illustrate and validate the methodology for brittle crack propagation in silicon.