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Fragmentation processes in two-phase materials
H A Carmona1, A V Guimarães1, J S Andrade1
1Departamento de Física, Universidade Federal do Ceará, 60451-970 Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.
Physical Review. E, Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics
|February 14, 2015
Summary
Solid material fragmentation is driven by tensile stress, leading to cracks that cause breakage. This process is robust, with crystalline materials fragmenting more easily than amorphous ones.
Area of Science:
- Solid mechanics
- Materials science
- Computational physics
Background:
- Understanding material fragmentation is crucial for predicting failure in various engineering applications.
- The role of internal structure (crystalline vs. amorphous) in fragmentation dynamics requires further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the fragmentation process of solid materials with crystalline and amorphous phases.
- To elucidate the primary fragmentation mechanism and its dependence on material structure and collision energy.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing the discrete element method (DEM) for numerical simulations.
- Analyzing crack initiation, propagation, and sample fragmentation under impact conditions.
Main Results:
- Damage initiates in tensile circumferential stress regions, forming meridional cracks.
- A critical collision energy determines fragmentation, with crystalline samples requiring less energy.
- Fragment mass distribution follows a power law, characteristic of unstable crack branching.
Conclusions:
- The primary fragmentation mechanism is robust across different material microstructures.
- Material microstructure influences the critical energy for fragmentation but not the fragment size distribution exponent.
- The study provides insights into the physics of material failure and fragmentation.
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