Crack healing in nanocrystalline palladium

GQ Xu and MJ Demkowicz, EXTREME MECHANICS LETTERS, 8, 208-212 (2016).

DOI: 10.1016/j.eml.2016.03.011

We present molecular dynamics simulations that demonstrate crack healing induced by external mechanical loading in three-dimensional models of nanocrystalline palladium. This behavior is due to the interaction of a crack with internal stresses in the surrounding microstructure. Our observations illustrate the importance of accounting for microstructurally-induced internal stresses when predicting the behavior of nano-scale cracks under mechanical loading. They also motivate further work to determine whether internal damage in hard matter may be mitigated by designing microstructures that heal cracks during mechanical loading. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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