Numerical simulation of fracture of titanium and aluminum nanocrystals by the molecular dynamics method

Results of numerical simulations of fracture of titanium and aluminum nanocrystals by the molecular dynamics are reported. The nanocrystals are subjected to uniaxial tension in a wide temperature range (300–1270 K). It is demonstrated that tension of titanium nanocrystals heated to temperatures above 0.7 of the melting temperature in a non-stressed nanocrystal first leads to a phase transition from the crystalline to liquid state, followed by their fracture. This effect is not observed in the case of tension of the aluminum nanocrystal.