Breakdown of continuum fracture mechanics at the nanoscale.

ABSTRACT: Materials fail by the nucleation and propagation of a crack, the critical condition of which is quantitatively described by fracture mechanics that uses an intensity of singular stress field characteristically formed near the crack-tip. However, the continuum assumption basing fracture mechanics obscures the prediction of failure of materials at the nanoscale due to discreteness of atoms. Here, we demonstrate the ultimate dimensional limit of fracture mechanics at the nanoscale, where only a small number of atoms are included in a singular field of continuum stress formed near a crack tip. Surprisingly, a singular stress field of only several nanometers still governs fracture as successfully as that at the macroscale, whereas both the stress intensity factor and the energy release rate fai

SUBMITTER: Shimada T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4341196 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature