Brittle-fracture simulations of curved cleavage cracks in -iron; A Molecular dynamics study

Suzudo, Tomoaki   ; Ebihara, Kenichi   ; Tsuru, Tomohito   

The mechanism of their brittle fracture of BCC metals is not fully understood. In this study, we conduct a series of three-dimensional molecular dynamics simulations of cleavage fracture of -iron. In particular, we focus on mode-I loading starting from curved crack fronts. In the simulations, brittle fractures are observed at cleavages on the {100} plane, while the initial cracks become blunted on other planes as a result of dislocation emissions. Our modeling results agreed with a common experimental observation, that is, {100} is the preferential cleavage plane in bcc transition metals.