Home > Press > Why materials crack
 |
| Special configuration of the tip of a crack in silicon |
Abstract:
Dr Gabor Csanyi from the Mechanics, Materials and Design division and his team have recently had a research paper published in the journal Nature. The research explores how and why materials crack with the hope that by understanding how cracks propagate, scientists and engineers will be better able to prevent cracks from occurring.
Why materials crack
Cambridge, UK | Posted on January 19th, 2009
Using computer simulations, they studied the motion of atoms that takes place when cracks occur in brittle materials, such as those used in making electronic devices, solar cells, surface coatings and armour. Surprisingly, it turned out that they needed to resort to using Quantum Mechanics, the most fundamental theory that describes the physical world, to explain why the motion of cracks in silicon are unstable, and why these cracks exhibit jogs and kinks as the two halves of the material part at high speed.
####
For more information, please click here
Copyright © University of Cambridge
If you have a comment, please
Contact us.
Issuers of news releases, not 7th Wave, Inc. or Nanotechnology Now, are solely responsible for the accuracy of the content.
Bookmark:
News and information
How do cold ions slide May 24th, 2013
Heinrich Rohrer dies at 79; a father of nanotechnology: With IBM colleague Gerd Binnig, Rohrer invented the scanning tunneling microscope, which can show individual atoms on a surface and move them around May 23rd, 2013
Gold nanocrystal vibration captured on billion-frames-per-second film May 23rd, 2013
Glowing Plant Releases Maker Kit, Enabling Anyone to Make a Glowing Plant at Home: Glowing Plant seeks funds via crowdfunding and raises almost $400,000 May 23rd, 2013
Discoveries
How do cold ions slide May 24th, 2013
Gold nanocrystal vibration captured on billion-frames-per-second film May 23rd, 2013
Whirlpools on the Nanoscale Could Multiply Magnetic Memory: At the Advanced Light Source, Berkeley Lab scientists join an international team to control spin orientation in magnetic nanodisks May 22nd, 2013
Bacterial spare parts filter antibiotic residue from groundwater May 22nd, 2013
Materials
Gold nanocrystal vibration captured on billion-frames-per-second film May 23rd, 2013
IDTechEx launches online Market Intelligence Portal May 23rd, 2013
Weird science: Crystals melt when they're cooled May 22nd, 2013
INSCX™ exchange announces substantial increase in capital designated to provide Trade Finance for registered Nanomaterial Producers May 21st, 2013
Announcements
How do cold ions slide May 24th, 2013
Heinrich Rohrer dies at 79; a father of nanotechnology: With IBM colleague Gerd Binnig, Rohrer invented the scanning tunneling microscope, which can show individual atoms on a surface and move them around May 23rd, 2013
Gold nanocrystal vibration captured on billion-frames-per-second film May 23rd, 2013
Glowing Plant Releases Maker Kit, Enabling Anyone to Make a Glowing Plant at Home: Glowing Plant seeks funds via crowdfunding and raises almost $400,000 May 23rd, 2013
Quantum nanoscience
Competition in the Quantum World May 20th, 2013
Scientists capture first direct proof of Hofstadter butterfly effect May 17th, 2013
New principle may help explain why nature is quantum May 15th, 2013
Flawed Diamonds Promise Sensory Perfection: Berkeley Lab researchers and their colleagues extend electron spin in diamond for incredibly tiny magnetic detectors May 10th, 2013