Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Dynamics and morphology of brittle cracks: A molecular-dynamics study of silicon nitride

Journal Article · · Physical Review Letters
; ;  [1]
  1. Concurrent Computing Laboratory for Materials Simulations, Department of Computer Science, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803 (United States)

Crack propagation in amorphous Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} films is investigated with large-scale molecular-dynamics simulations on parallel machines. We observe a correlation between the speed of crack propagation and the morphology of fracture surfaces. Initially, as the crack propagates slowly, the roughness exponent for fracture surfaces is found to be 0.44. However, beyond a certain speed of crack propagation, the exponent crosses over to 0.8. This crossover behavior is similar to the recent experimental finding by Bouchaud and Naveos. {copyright} {ital 1995} {ital The} {ital American} {ital Physical} {ital Society}.

Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
FG05-92ER45477
OSTI ID:
124836
Journal Information:
Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 17 Vol. 75; ISSN 0031-9007; ISSN PRLTAO
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English