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Dynamics of Consolidation and Crack Growth in Nanocluster‐Assembled Amorphous Silicon Nitride
Author(s) -
Tsuruta Kenji,
Nakano Aiichiro,
Kalia Rajiv K.,
Vashishta Priya
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of the american ceramic society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.9
H-Index - 196
eISSN - 1551-2916
pISSN - 0002-7820
DOI - 10.1111/j.1151-2916.1998.tb02354.x
Subject(s) - materials science , sintering , amorphous solid , consolidation (business) , silicon nitride , molecular dynamics , nitride , composite material , nanotechnology , chemical physics , mineralogy , silicon , metallurgy , crystallography , chemistry , computational chemistry , accounting , layer (electronics) , business
Consolidation and fracture dynamics in nanophase amorphous Si3N4 are investigated using 106‐atom molecular‐dynamics simulations. At a pressure of 15 GPa and 2000 K, the nanophase system is almost fully consolidated within a fraction of a nanosecond. The consolidation process is well‐described by the classical theory of sintering. Under an applied strain the consolidated system develops several cracks which propagate parallel to each other, causing failure at multiple sites. The critical strain at which the nanophase system fractures is much larger than that for crystalline Si3N4.