Observing the crack tip behavior at the nanoscale during fracture of ceramics
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Ultimately, brittle fracture involves breaking atomic bonds. However, we still lack a clear picture of what happens in the highly deformed region around a moving crack tip. Consequently, we still cannot link nanoscale phenomena with the macroscopic toughness of materials. The unsolved challenge is to observe the movement of the crack front at the nanoscale while extracting quantitative information. Here, we address this challenge by monitoring stable crack growth inside a transmission electron microscope. Our analysis demonstrates how phase transformation toughening, previously thought to be effective at the microscale and above, promotes crack deflection at the nanolevel and increases the fracture resistance. The work is a first step to help connecting the atomistic and continuous view of fracture in a way that can guide the design of the next generation of strong and tough materials demanded by technologies as diverse as healthcare, energy generation, or transport.
Date Issued
2024-10-22
Date Acceptance
2024-09-11
Citation
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2024, 121 (43)
ISSN
0027-8424
Publisher
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Journal / Book Title
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Volume
121
Issue
43
Copyright Statement
© 2024 the Author(s). Published by PNAS. This open access article is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License 4.0 (CC BY-NC-ND).
Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2408292121
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
e2408292121
Date Publish Online
2024-10-17