Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
1564339 | Computational Materials Science | 2006 | 5 Pages |
Abstract
We discuss the threshold activated extremal dynamics that is prevalent in the breakdown processes in heterogeneous materials. We model such systems by an elastic spring network with random breaking thresholds assigned to the springs. Results are obtained from molecular dynamics simulation of the system under constant stress and constant strain conditions. We find that the distribution P(m) of the avalanches of size m, caused by the rupturing of the springs till the failure of the network, decays as a power-law: P(m) â¼Â mâα, where α can be closely approximated to 5/2. The average avalanche size ãmã diverges as ãmã â¼Â (Fc â F)â1/2 close to the stress Fc at which the total failure of the network occurs. We study the time evolution of the breakdown process: we find that the bonds rupture randomly over the network at initial times but the rupturing becomes highly correlated at late times to give rise to a well-defined macroscopic crack.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Engineering
Computational Mechanics
Authors
Purusattam Ray,