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Updated: Jul 10, 2026

Scalable Nanohelices for Predictive Studies and Enhanced 3D Visualization
Published on: November 12, 2014
Interaction of voids and nanoductility in silica glass
Yi-Chun Chen1, Zhen Lu, Ken-Ichi Nomura
1Collaboratory for Advanced Computing and Simulations, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089-0242, USA.
Abstract:
Multimillion-to-billion-atom molecular dynamics simulations are performed to investigate the interaction of voids in silica glass under hydrostatic tension. Nanometer size cavities nucleate in intervoid ligaments as a result of the expansion of Si-O rings due to a bond-switching mechanism, which involves bond breaking between Si-O and bond formation between that Si and a nonbridging O. With further increase in strain, nanocracks form on void surfaces and ligaments fracture through the growth and coalescence of ligament nanocavities in a manner similar to that observed in ductile metallic alloys.
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