Related papers: Controlled polymorphic competition -- a path to to…
We report the effects of reducing surface asperity size at the nanometer scale on metallic surfaces by plasma-assisted surface modification processes using simulations and experiments. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were conducted by…
Nanoindentation is a powerful tool capable of providing fundamental insights of material elastic and plastic response at the nanoscale. Alloys at nanoscale are particularly interesting as the local heterogeneity and deformation mechanism…
Titanium alloys are widely used in aerospace, biomedical, and energy applications owing to their high specific strength, corrosion resistance, and biocompatibility. Among them, $\alpha$-titanium alloys with a hexagonal close-packed (hcp)…
Tight-binding molecular dynamics simulations shed light into the fracture mechanisms and the ideal strength of tetrahedral amorphous carbon and of nanocomposite carbon containing diamond crystallites, two of the hardest materials. It is…
Cement is the most widely used manufacturing material in the world and improving its toughness would allow for the design of slender infrastructure, requiring less material. To this end, we investigate by means of molecular dynamics…
The effects of a displacive structural phase transition on sliding friction are in principle accessible to nanoscale tools such as the Atomic Force Microscopy, yet they are still surprisingly unexplored. We present model simulations…
Brittle materials subjected to thermal shocks experience strong temperature gradients that in turn give rise to mechanical stresses that can be large enough to induce fracture. This work presents a complete model for phase-field fracture…
An innovative technique, called conversion, is introduced to model circumferential cracks in thin cylindrical shells. The semi-analytical finite element method is applied to investigate the modal deformation of the cylinder. An element…
Molecules adsorbing on metal surfaces form a variety of different surface polymorphs. How strongly this polymorphism affects interface properties is a priori unknown. In this work we investigate how strongly the surface polymorphism…
Fracture of materials with rate-dependent mechanical behaviour, e.g. polymers, is a highly complex process. For an adequate modelling, the coupling between rate-dependent stiffness, dissipative mechanisms present in the bulk material and…
The freezing of concentrated colloidal suspensions is a complex physical process involving a large number of parameters. These parameters provide unique tools to manipulate the architecture of freeze-cast materials at multiple length scales…
Fatigue crack growth is usually a three-dimensional problem, but it is often simplified to two dimensions to reduce complexity. However, this study investigates the relationships between microscopic effects such as crack kinking, shear…
Selective laser melting is receiving increasing interest as an additive manufacturing technique. Residual stresses induced by the large temperature gradients and inhomogeneous cooling process can favour the generation of cracks. In this…
Understanding the fracture mechanisms in composite materials across scales, from nano- to micro-scales, is essential for an in-depth understanding of the reinforcement mechanisms and designing the next generation of lightweight,…
Metallic materials undergo irreversible deformation under mechanical loading, leading to intense local plastic localization that reduces their mechanical performance. We identify a new mechanism of plastic deformation localization that…
Using molecular-dynamics simulation and finite-element modelling, we simulate nanoindentation into the three principal surfaces -- the (100), (110) and (111) surface -- of Cu and Al. In the elastic regime, the simulation data agree fairly…
Differential shrinkage in particulate quasi-brittle materials causes microcracking which reduces durability in these materials by increasing their mass transport properties. A hydro-mechanical three-dimensional periodic network approach was…
Atomistic deformation simulations in the nominally elastic regime are performed for a model binary glass with strain rates as low as $10^{4}$/sec (corresponding to 0.01 shear strain per 1$\mu$sec). A robust elasticity is revealed that…
Atomic-scale investigation on mechanical behaviors is highly necessary to fully understand the fracture mechanics especially of brittle materials, which are determined by atomic-scale phenomena (e.g., lattice trapping). Here, exfoliated…
Additive manufacturing (AM) enables the development of high-performance architected cellular materials, emphasizing the growing importance of establishing programmable and predictable energy absorption capabilities. This study evaluates the…