Molecular dynamics simulations of crack growth behavior in Al in the presence of vacancies

Modeling of crack growth under mixed-mode loading by a molecular dynamics method and a linear fracture mechanics approach

“…Molecular dynamics is one of the most widely used numerical simulation techniques for investigating the fracture behavior of materials at the atomic scale [16][17][18][19][20]. In this paper we use large-scale atomic/molecular massively parallel simulator (LAMMPS) [20,21] in combination with the embedded atom method (EAM) [16,23] to model a copper plate under mixed loading. EAM potentials are widely used in the variety of different simulations, focusing mainly on mechanical properties [16,22].…”

“…The proposal of mode I dominance was suggested when dealing with cracked plates under plane loading and transverse shear, where the crack grows in the direction almost perpendicular to the maximum tangential stress (MTS) in the radial direction from its tip [1]. This theory is one of the widely used theories for mixed-mode crack growth [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. In more detail, the criterion states that the crack propagation starts along the direction on which the tangential stress becomes maximum.…”

“…Together with the MTS criterion, strain energy density (SED) was used to formulate failure criteria for materials exhibiting both ductile and brittle behavior. Nowadays one can estimate the crack propagation direction angle using molecular dynamics simulation [16][17][18][19][20][21]. Molecular dynamics (MD) is a powerful tool in characterizing the inception and evolution of plastic deformation and the associated fracture mechanism at the atomic scale [16].…”

“…Nowadays one can estimate the crack propagation direction angle using molecular dynamics simulation [16][17][18][19][20][21]. Molecular dynamics (MD) is a powerful tool in characterizing the inception and evolution of plastic deformation and the associated fracture mechanism at the atomic scale [16]. Applied to the problem of crack propagation and growth, the method was used extensively to analyze the fundamental mechanisms of material fracture in the past [16][17][18][19][20][21].…”

“…Molecular dynamics (MD) is a powerful tool in characterizing the inception and evolution of plastic deformation and the associated fracture mechanism at the atomic scale [16]. Applied to the problem of crack propagation and growth, the method was used extensively to analyze the fundamental mechanisms of material fracture in the past [16][17][18][19][20][21]. The present study is aimed at the determination of the crack propagation direction angle in a wide range of mixed-mode loading using 1) the multi-parameter maximum tangential stress criterion, 2) the multi-parameter strain energy density criterion and 3) molecular dynamics simulation of crack propagation behavior under mixed-mode loading in the full range of the mixity parameter.…”