It is well known in mechanical engineering that microscopic cracks significantly reduce the strength of solid materials. This is typically accounted for by empiric coefficients. I am carrying out computations to determine such coefficients from first principles. The equations of elasticity are solved in a solid. Near a crack they provide the mean force field felt by the solid's atoms. A molecular dynamics computation follows the enlargement of the crack. The effect of the crack upon the solid is reflected through local modification of constitutive relations.
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