Embrittlement of metal by solute segregation-induced amorphization.
Impurities segregated to grain boundaries of a material essentially alter its fracture behavior. A prime example is sulfur segregation-induced embrittlement of nickel, where an observed relation between sulfur-induced amorphization of grain boundaries and embrittlement remains unexplained. Here, 48x10(6)-atom reactive-force-field molecular dynamics simulations provide the missing link. Namely, an order-of-magnitude reduction of grain-boundary shear strength due to amorphization, combined with tensile-strength reduction, allows the crack tip to always find an easy propagation path.
Chen
Hsiu-Pin
HP
Collaboratory for Advanced Computing and Simulations, Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089-0242, USA.
Kalia
Rajiv K
RK
Kaxiras
Efthimios
E
Lu
Gang
G
Nakano
Aiichiro
A
Nomura
Ken-ichi
K
van Duin
Adri C T
AC
Vashishta
Priya
P
Yuan
Zaoshi
Z