arXiv subjects

Meizhen Xiang

Publications and source records attributed to Meizhen Xiang.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2019

Coupling of homogeneous and heterogeneous melting kinetics in polycrystalline materials

Melting kinetics of polycrystalline materials is analyzed on the basis of a new model which explicitly couples homogeneous and heterogeneous melting mechanisms. The distinct feature of this approach lies in its ability to evaluate not only grain-size-distribution effects on the overall melting kinetics but also competitions between the two melting mechanisms. For the first time, we reveal the three-part structure of temperature-time-transformation diagrams for melting of polycrystalline materials, through which it is possible to determine a critical temperature across which the dominant melting mechanism switches. The critical temperature increases as the mean-grain-diameter decreases following a negative power-law. The results are qualitatively consistent with experimental observations.

physics.app-ph↗

arXiv2018

Crystal Instabilities and Elastic Responses of Metals under Extreme Strain Rates

Despite of some progresses in investigating the roles of the higher-order strain gradients on elastic stabilities of solids, the physical nature on the higher-order elastic instabilities of crystals, especially under extreme strain rates, is still a mystery. In this work, a generalized elastic instability criterion for infinite crystals is consistently established at both continuum and atom level under frameworks of a higher-order phenomenological theory. The established criterion could consistently reproduce the well-known strain-based lattice instability criteria, such as modified Born criterion, Λ-criterion, as well as a higher-order one proposed by Bardenhagen et al. Our results show that modified Born criterion is not as precise as the Λ-criterion under heterogeneous stress states. Different from the higher-order criterion, contributions from the third order gradients of displacements are considered so that the well-known sign paradox in the first strain-gradient theory could be reproduced. According to microscopic comprehensions on the higher-order phenomenological theory, the sign paradox is well clarified. Finally, the established criterion is employed to investigate the elastic stabilities of single crystalline copper and aluminum. The obtained results could well explain the singularities of elastic responses of the two metals under ramp compressions.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2017

Higher Order Elastic Instabilities of Metals: From Atom to Continuum Level

Strain-based theory on elastic instabilities is being widely employed for studying onset of plasticity, phase transition or melting in crystals. And size effects, observed in nano-materials or solids under dynamic loadings, needs to account for contributions from strain gradient. However, the strain gradient based higher order elastic theories on the elastic instabilities are not well established to enable one to predict high order instabilities of solids directly at atom level. In present work, a general continuum theory for higher order elastic instabilities is established and justified by developing an equivalent description at atom level. Our results show that mechanical instability of solids, triggered by either strain or strain gradient, is determined by a simple stability condition consisting of strain or strain gradient related elastic constants. With the atom-level description of the higher order elasticity, the strain-gradient elastic constants could be directly obtained by a molecular statics procedure and then serve as inputs of the stability condition. In this way, mechanical instabilities of three metals, i.e., copper, aluminum and iron, are predicted. Alternatively, ramp compression technique by nonequilibrium molecular dynamics (NEMD) simulations is employed to study the higher order instabilities of the three metals. The predicted critical strains at onset of instabilities agree well with the results from the NEMD simulations for all the metals. Since the only inputs for the established higher order elastic theory are the same as atomic simulations, i.e., atomic potentials and structures of solids, the established theory is completely equivalent to empirical-potential based atomic simulations methods, at least, for crystals.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2017

Phase Transition of Iron-based Single Crystals at Extreme Strain Rates under Dynamic Loadings

Phase transition of iron, as a prototype of martensite phase transition under dynamic loadings, exhibits huge diverges in its TP among experiments with different pressure medium and loading rates, even in the same initial samples. Great achievements are made in understanding strain or stress dependence of the TP under dynamic loadings. However, present understandings on the strain rate dependence of the TP are far from clear, even a virgin for extreme high strain rates. In this work, large scale NEMD simulations are conducted to study the effects of strain rates on the phase transition of iron-based single crystals. Our results show that the phase transition is preceded by lattice instabilities under ramp compressions, but present theory, represented by modified Born criteria, cannot correctly predict observed onsets of the instability. Through considering both strain and strain gradient disturbances, new instability criteria are proposed, which could be generally applied for studying instabilities under either static or dynamic loadings. For the ramp with a strain rate smaller than about 1010s-1, the observed onset of instabilities is indeed equal to the one predicted by the new instability criteria under small gradient disturbances. The observed onsets deviates from the predicted one at lager strain rates because of finite strain gradient effect. Interestingly, the strain rate dependence of the TP also exhibits an obvious change at the same strain rate, i.e., 1010 s-1. When 1010 s-1, a certain power law is obeyed, but it is not applicable at larger strain rates. This strain rate effect on the TP is well interpreted with nucleation time and the finite strain gradient effect. According to these basic understandings, the roles of strain rates on nucleation and growth of the phase transition are studied.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2016

Shock responses of nanoporous aluminum by molecular dynamics simulations

We present systematic investigations on the shock responses of nanoporous aluminum (np-Al) by nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations. The dislocation nucleation sites are found to concentrate in low latitude region near the equator of the spherical void surfaces. We propose a continuum wave reflection theory and a resolved shear stress model to explain the distribution of dislocation nucleation sites. The simulations reveals two mechanisms of void collapse: the plasticity mechanism and the internal jetting mechanism. The plasticity mechanism, which leads to transverse collapse of voids, prevails under relatively weaker shocks; while the internal jetting mechanism, which leads to longitudinal filling of the void vacuum, plays more significant role as the shock intensity increases. In addition, an abnormal thermodynamic phenomenon (i.e., arising of temperature with pressure dropping) in shocked np-Al is discovered. This phenomenon is incompatible with the conventional Rankine-Hugoniot theory, and is explained by the nonequilibrium processes involved in void collapse. The influences of void collapse on spall fracture of np-Al is studied. Under the same loading velocity, the spall strength of np-Al is found to be lower than that of single-crystal Al; but the spall resistance is higher in np-Al than in single-crystal Al. This is explained by the combined influences of thermal dissipation and stress attenuation during shock wave propagation in np-Al.

physics.comp-ph↗