Size-dependency and lattice-discreetness effect on fracture toughness in 2D crystals under antiplanar loading

TL;DR

This study uses numerical simulations of 2D fuse networks to analyze how size and lattice discreteness influence fracture toughness, revealing size-dependent convergence to material constants and the impact of lattice discreteness on fracture behavior.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed numerical approach to quantify size effects and lattice discreteness on fracture toughness in 2D crystals under antiplanar loading, linking atomistic structure to macroscopic properties.

Findings

Fracture energy and toughness converge algebraically with system size.

Convergence speed depends on lattice symmetry and loading conditions.

Lattice discreteness causes finite deviations from continuum predictions.

Abstract

Fracture toughness is the material property characterizing resistance to failure. Predicting its value from the solid structure at the atomistic scale remains elusive, even in the simplest situations of brittle fracture. We report here numerical simulations of crack propagation in two-dimensional fuse networks of different periodic geometries, which are electrical analogs of bidimensional brittle crystals under antiplanar loading. Fracture energy is determined from Griffith's analysis of energy balance during crack propagation, and fracture toughness is determined from fits of the displacement fields with Williams' asymptotic solutions. Significant size dependencies are evidenced in small lattices, with fracture energy and fracture toughness both converging algebraically with system size toward well-defined material-constant values in the limit of infinite system size. The convergence speed depends on the loading conditions and is faster when the symmetry of the considered lattice increases. The material constants at infinity obey Irwin's relation and properly define the material resistance to failure. Their values are approached up to $\sim$ 15 % using the recent analytical method proposed in Nguyen and Bonamy (Phys Rev Lett 123:205503, 2019). Nevertheless, the deviation remains finite and does not vanish when the system size goes to infinity. We finally show that this deviation is a consequence of the lattice discreetness and decreases when the super-singular terms of Williams' solutions (absent in a continuum medium but present here due to lattice discreetness) are taken into account.