The influence of the network topology on the deformation and fracture behaviour of silica glass: A molecular dynamics study

F Ebrahem and F Bamer and B Markert, COMPUTATIONAL MATERIALS SCIENCE, 149, 162-169 (2018).

DOI: 10.1016/j.commatsci.2018.03.017

The nano-structural arrangement of silica glass can be analysed based on its short-and medium-range order. The latter is represented by rings of various sizes composed of corner-sharing tetrahedra. In this paper, a topologically motivated explanation of the mechanical behaviour of silica glass is provided. We perform classical molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the influence of the ring distribution on the deformation and fracture behaviour depending on the quenching rate. For this purpose, we prepare several samples with statistically different vitreous states by quenching molten silica to ambient temperature using various quenching rates. All samples are subjected to tensile loadings, based on which we demonstrate that the mechanical behaviour depends significantly on the associated ring statistics.

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