Residual stress distributions in athermally deformed amorphous solids from atomistic simulations

TL;DR

This study uses atomistic simulations to analyze residual stress distributions in amorphous solids, revealing how these stresses influence plastic flow and yield behavior during deformation.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the distribution and evolution of residual stresses in amorphous solids under deformation using atomistic simulation data.

Findings

Residual stress distribution follows a pseudogap form in quiescent states.

Deformation introduces a size-dependent plateau in residual stress distribution.

Local yield stress can change without plastic activity in the region.

Abstract

The distribution of local residual stresses (threshold to instability) that controls the statistical properties of plastic flow in athermal amorphous solids is examined with an atomistic simulation technique. For quiescent configurations, the distribution has a pseudogap (power-law) form with an exponent that agrees well with global yielding statistics. As soon as deformation sets in, the pseudogap region gives way to a system size dependent plateau at small residual stresses that can be understood from the statistics of local residual stress {\em differences} between plastic events. Results further suggest that the local yield stress in amorphous solids changes even if the given region does not participate in plastic activity.