Rupture of graphene sheets with randomly distributed defects

Samaneh Nasiri; Michael Zaiser; Samaneh Nasiri; Michael Zaiser

doi:10.3934/matersci.2016.4.1340

AIMS Materials Science

2016, Volume 3, Issue 4: 1340-1349. doi: 10.3934/matersci.2016.4.1340

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Rupture of graphene sheets with randomly distributed defects

Samaneh Nasiri ,
Michael Zaiser ^,

Department of Materials Science and Engineering, WW8 – Materials Simulation, Friedrich- Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Dr.-Mack-Strasse 77, 90762 Fürth, Germany

Received: 12 August 2016 Accepted: 27 September 2016 Published: 13 October 2016

We use atomistic simulation (molecular mechanics and molecular dynamics) to investigate failure of graphene sheets containing randomly distributed vacancies. We investigate the dependency of the failure stress on defect concentration and sheet size and show that our findings are consistent with the Duxbury-Leath-Beale (DLB) theory of mechanical or electric breakdown in random media. The corresponding distribution of failure stresses falls into the Gumbel, rather than the Weibull class of extremal statistics. By comparing molecular mechanics and zero-temperature molecular dynamics simulations we establish the role of kinetic energy in crack propagation and its impact on crack patterns emerging before sheet rupture.
- graphene,
- fracture,
- microcracks,
- disordered media,
- extremal statistics
Citation: Samaneh Nasiri, Michael Zaiser. Rupture of graphene sheets with randomly distributed defects[J]. AIMS Materials Science, 2016, 3(4): 1340-1349. doi: 10.3934/matersci.2016.4.1340

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Abstract

We use atomistic simulation (molecular mechanics and molecular dynamics) to investigate failure of graphene sheets containing randomly distributed vacancies. We investigate the dependency of the failure stress on defect concentration and sheet size and show that our findings are consistent with the Duxbury-Leath-Beale (DLB) theory of mechanical or electric breakdown in random media. The corresponding distribution of failure stresses falls into the Gumbel, rather than the Weibull class of extremal statistics. By comparing molecular mechanics and zero-temperature molecular dynamics simulations we establish the role of kinetic energy in crack propagation and its impact on crack patterns emerging before sheet rupture.

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