Amorphous shear bands in crystalline materials as drivers of plasticity
Abstract
Traditionally, the formation of amorphous shear bands (SBs) in crystalline materials has been undesirable, because SBs can nucleate voids and act as precursors to fracture. They also form as a final stage of accumulated damage. Only recently SBs were found to form in undefected crystals, where they serve as the primary driver of plasticity without nucleating voids. Here, we have discovered trends in materials properties that determine when amorphous shear bands will form and whether they will drive plasticity or lead to fracture. We have identified the materials systems that exhibit SB deformation, and by varying the composition, we were able to switch from ductile to brittle behavior. Our findings are based on a combination of experimental characterization and atomistic simulations, and they provide a potential strategy for increasing toughness of nominally brittle materials.
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Cite
@article{arxiv.2308.03937,
title = {Amorphous shear bands in crystalline materials as drivers of plasticity},
author = {Xuanxin Hu and Nuohao Liu and Vrishank Jambur and Siamak Attarian and Ranran Su and Hongliang Zhang and Jianqi Xi and Hubin Luo and John Perepezko and Izabela Szlufarska},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2308.03937},
year = {2023}
}