Atomic-level fluctuation mechanism of the fracture of solids (computer simulation studies)

Experimental studies of the fracture kinetics of solids have shown that the process culminating in fracture of a stressed solid comprises a sequence of elementary events in which stressed atomic bonds are ruptured by local energy fluctuations. This recognition sparked investigations into elementary fracture events and into the fluctuations themselves that are responsible for bond rupture. Currently, only computer simulation of the dynamics of atoms offers the possibility of tracing, in considerable detail, the evolution of fluctuation events characterized by very short duration (∼ 10(-13)-10(-12) s). An analysis is made of the results obtained in computer simulation experiments on the temporal and spatial localization of atomic-energy fluctuations and atomic-bond strains, fluctuation migration, the mechanism of fluctuation formation, the role of anharmonicity in atomic interactions, and the magnitude of the volume activated in an elementary fracture event. © 2005 Pleiades Publishing, Inc.