Investigation of deformation mechanisms of staggered nanocomposites using molecular dynamics

•The deformation behaviour of staggered nanocomposites is studied.•Stair-wise staggered model has high stiffness and strength, but low toughness.•Rapid crack growth in overlap region causes this low toughness.•Toughness could be enhanced by arresting interfacial crack in the overlap.

Biological materials with nanostructure of regularly or stair-wise staggered arrangements of hard platelets reinforced in a soft protein matrix have superior mechanical properties. Applications of these nanostructures to ceramic matrix composites could enhance their toughness. Using molecular dynamics simulations, mechanical behaviour of the bio-inspired nanocomposites is studied. Regularly staggered model shows better flow behaviour compared to stair-wise staggered model due to the symmetrical crack propagation along the interface. Though higher stiffness and strength are obtained for stair-wise staggered models, rapid crack propagation reduces the toughness. Arresting this crack propagation could lead to superior mechanical properties in stair-wise staggered models.