Dislocation emission and crack growth in 3D bcc iron crystals under biaxial loading by atomistic simulations

Abstract

This paper is devoted to the study of the ductile-brittle behavior of a central nanocrack (1¯10)[110] (crack plane/crack front) under biaxial loading via free 3D molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, as well as the comparison of MD results with continuum predictions concerning T-stress. The so called T-stress is a constant stress component acting along the crack plane, which should be considered (together with the stress intensity factor K) in the assessment of brittle-ductile behavior, namely, in the case of the short cracks. Previous 2D atomistic simulations under plane strain conditions indicated that the level of T-stress (controlled by the biaxiality ratio σB/σA from the external loading) affects dislocation emission from the crack and can cause the ductile-brittle transition. The plane strain simulations using the periodic or translational boundary conditions in the bcc lattice have certain limitations: they enable the in-plane dislocation emission (Burgers vector lies in the observation plane), but they do not allow the complete dislocation emission on the all slip systems favored by the shear stress. As presented, our new free 3D atomistic simulations (without periodic or symmetry conditions) enable the activity of the all favored slip systems. Thus, they offer a more realistic insight into the microscopic processes generated by the crack itself in dependence on the T-stress level.