Effects of preexisting cracks on tensile behavior and deformation mechanism of boron nitride nanoribbons: A molecular dynamics investigation

摘要

Abstract In the present work, the effects of preexisting cracks on the mechanical behavior and deformation mechanism of hexagonal boron nitride nanoribbons were investigated based on molecular dynamics simulations. The crack length and orientation caused remarkable impacts on the mechanical properties of the nanoribbons. The crack tips acting as local concentration sites handled the failure trajectory inside the material, and significantly deformed the distribution pattern of the applied energy. The strength, ultimate strain, and elastic modulus dramatically decreased by increasing the length of the transversely oriented and cross-shaped cracks. However, longitudinally oriented cracks left no remarkable influence. Mutual interactions among the preexisting cracks was another interesting, observed issue. The material strength and the initiation site of the structure failure is controllable by adopting the initial length and location of the preexisting cracks. The research results provides new insights into the potential impacts of preexisting cracks on mechanical behaviors of nanoribbons.Graphical abstract