Atomistic Mechanisms of Stress Relaxation in Amorphous Materials

无定形材料是寻找新材料的主要推动力。金属玻璃具有非常高的强度，可以比常规（多晶）金属铸造更精细的公差。陶瓷玻璃在数据存储、光电子和光纤领域的应用越来越广泛。非晶固体应用的最大障碍是其脆性。该项目的目标是使用精确的计算机模拟来提供原子运动如何在不同类型的玻璃中放松应力的详细图片，并通过这种见解探索修改这些材料的机械性能的方法。

Amorphous materials represent a major thrust in the search for new materials. Metallic glasses have very high strength and can be cast to much finer tolerances than regular (polycrystalline) metals. Ceramic glasses are finding increasing applications in data storage, photoelectronics and fibre optics. The greatest obstacle to the application of amorphous solids is their brittleness. The goal of this project is to use accurate computer simulations to provide detailed pictures of how atomic motions relax stress in very different types of glasses and, through this insight, explore ways of modifying the mechanical properties of these materials.