Large scale molecular dynamics modeling of materials fabrication processes

An atomistic molecular dynamics model of materials fabrication processes is presented. Several material removal processes are shown to be within the domain of this simulation method. Results are presented for orthogonal cutting of copper and silicon and for crack propagation in silica glass. Both copper and silicon show ductile behavior, but the atomistic mechanisms that allow this behavior are significantly different in the two cases. The copper chip remains crystalline while the silicon chip transforms into an amorphous state. The critical stress for crack propagation in silica glass was found to be in reasonable agreement with experiment and a novel stick-slip phenomenon was observed.