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Understanding how nanoparticles deform under compression not only is of scientific importance but also has practical significance in various applications such as tribology, nanoparticle-based probes, and the dry grinding of raw materials. In this study, we conducted compression tests on model brittle glassy nanoparticles using molecular dynamics simulations. We found that during the early stages of plastic deformation, shear bands formed in a similar pattern regardless of the nanoparticle size. However, as the deformation continued, dominant cracks emerged in large nanoparticles while being suppressed in smaller ones. This size-dependent brittle-to-ductile transition can be explained by a simple model based on Griffith's theory. We also investigated the effect of the surface stress state on fracture using thermally tempered nanoparticles. We observed that the presence of compressive surface stress strengthened the nanoparticle by suppressing crack formation, even when a pre-notch was present. On the other hand, tensile surface stress had the opposite effect. Interestingly, nanoparticles with both tensile and compressive surface stress promoted shear deformation, which could potentially compromise the mechanical performance of tempered glass despite delayed crack formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under sharp contact loading, glass deforms elastically and then plastically via densification as well as shear flow. Stress build-up during loading, residual stress build-up after unloading, and possible ultimate cracking all depend sensitively on the competition and interplay between densification and shear flow. The crack resistance was shown in experimental studies to generally improve with the increasing contribution of densification in glasses where shear deformation plays a dominant role under indentation. In this work, the role of densification in deformation behaviors of model metallic glasses under sharp contact loading was studied by 3-D nanoindentation tests using indenters with different sharpness in classical molecular dynamics simulations. Starting from a model metallic glass that favors shear deformation, a Lennard-Jones potential was modified to describe model metallic glasses with different abilities of instantaneous densification under compression and permanent densification after decompression. Our studies show that model metallic glass with a higher densification ability under indentation has less stress build-up and less localized shear deformation during loading, as well as smaller residual stress build-up after unloading. However, our study indicates that both instantaneous and permanent densification need to be tuned for designing damage resistant glasses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In molecular dynamics simulations, the local stress state in the shear band is examined in six different model metallic glasses and one amorphous Si system (also has been perceived as a metallic glass analog) under different loading conditions. For all but the FeP and the amorphous Si systems, the running shear band (RSB) exhibits a liquid-like hydrostatic plus shear stress state. Our results suggest that the liquid feature of a RSB is not due to temperature rise or plastic confinement but due to the disorder driven by flow, which can be offset by strong directionality in bonding, phase segregation, or aging. The knowledge of the liquid-like stress state can be conveniently utilized in experiments to infer the local stress state of the RSB from the global tensile stress for metallic glasses. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Metallic glasses (MGs) usually suffer brittle fracture under uniaxial tension due to size-dependent shear band cavitation. Here we developed a concurrent multi-scale simulation method to describe the uniaxial tension of a binary Lennard-Jones (BLJ) model glass up to 88 microns in length. No cavitation or brittle fracture was found even for the longest BLJ sample. As the length increases, the shear band temperature increases, then saturates, while the elastic unloading from shear-off diminishes. We conjecture that the shear band of a BLJ sample, even with a macroscopic length, cannot reach the herein estimated critical cavitation conditions. Thus, BLJ samples appear to be free of size-induced tensile brittleness. Based on the shear band evolution and the critical cavitation conditions, we propose three classes of MGs in terms of tensile ductility: brittle-MGs (brittle for all lengths), normal-MGs (ductile for short samples, brittle for long samples), cohesive-MGs (ductile for all lengths). Our simulation results illustrate limitations of existing molecular models, and suggest that certain experimental metallic glasses may be free of size-induced tensile brittleness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The yielding of metallic glasses (MGs) is generally considered to be dependent on pressure or normal stress, which is usually described by the Mohr–Coulomb yield criterion. Experimentally, the orientation of the shear band angle or fracture angles in MG is roughly 40° to 42° in uniaxial compression and 50° to 59° in uniaxial tension, both with respect to the loading direction. However, the amounts of deviation from the maximum shear stress direction (45°) under uniaxial tension and compression are quite different, which seems to be inconsistent with the Mohr–Coulomb yield criterion. Here we carried out molecular dynamics simulations to study the incipient plasticity of model Dzugutov glasses subjected to various uniaxial and biaxial stress states. The yield points are defined as the sharp rise of the population of atoms participating in non-affine deformations, in addition to the traditional offset method. The yield surfaces thus created agree well with the Mohr–Coulomb yield criterion. Furthermore, the orientations of the embryonic shear bands (instead of the fully-grown shear bands, or fracture planes) are measured, which also follow predictions based on the Mohr–Coulomb criterion. Our simulation results call for orientational measurement of incipient shear bands in experiments to critically examine the Mohr–Coulomb yield criterion in MG systems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Low-cycle fatigue fracture of metallic glass nanowires was investigated using molecular dynamics simulations. The nanowires exhibit work hardening or softening, depending on the applied load. The structural origin of the hardening/softening response was identified as the decrease/increase of the tetrahedral clusters, as a result of the non-hardsphere nature of the glass model. The fatigue fracture is caused by shear banding initiated from the surface. The plastic-strain-controlled fatigue tests show that the fatigue life follows the Coffin–Manson relation. Such power-law form originates from plastic-strain-dependent microscopic damage accumulation. Lastly, the effect of a notch on low-cycle fatigue of nanowires in terms of failure mode and fatigue life was also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]