Atomistic-Continuum Constitutive Modeling Connection for Gold Foams under Compression at High Strain Rates: The Dislocation Density Effect

MH Saffarini and GZ Voyiadjis, METALS, 13, 652 (2023).

DOI: 10.3390/met13040652

Constitutive description of the plastic flow in metallic foams has been rarely explored in the literature. Even though the material is of great interest to researchers, its plasticity remains a topic that has a much room for exploration. With the help of the rich literature that explored the material deformation mechanism, it is possible to introduce a connection between the results of the atomistic simulations and the well-established continuum constitutive models that were developed for various loading scenarios. In this work, we perform large-scale atomistic simulations of metallic gold foams of two different sizes at a wide range of strain rates (107-109 s-1) under uniaxial compression. By utilizing the results of those simulations, as well as the results we reported in our previous works, a physical atomistic-continuum dislocations-based constitutive modeling connection is proposed to capture the compressive plastic flow in gold foams for a wide range of sizes, strain rates, temperatures, and porosities. The results reported in this work present curated datasets that can be of extreme usefulness for the data-driven AI design of metallic foams with tunable nanoscale properties. Eventually, we aim to produce an optimal physical description to improve integrated physics-based and AI-enabled design, manufacture, and validation of hierarchical architected metallic foams that deliver tailored mechanical responses and precision failure patterns at different scales.

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