Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 1992
High temperature intermetallic compounds show promise for aerospace technology. Unfortunately many of them have the property of being brittle at low temperatures and have therefore to be modified to be used. However among the binary high temperature materials, stoichiometric RuAl has shown some significant room temperature toughness [1].
Computer simulations at the atomistic level have shown to be of significant help in the understanding of many phenomena (phase transformations, etc). In this work, Molecular Dynamics and potentials derived by the Embedded Atom Method (EAM) have been used to study the behavior of a microcrack embedded in a three-dimensional lattice of RuAl. Values of the critical toughness factor (value at which the crack starts propagating) have been established for different orientations of the crack and for different temperatures. Dislocation emission and propagation have been observed in some cases. Parameters such as the unstable stacking energy (which characterizes the resistance to slip) and the surface energy (which characterizes the resistance to cleavage) have also been calculated for this material. A recent theory developped by Rice [2] will be used to interpret the behavior of the crack upon orientation.
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