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Distribution of Cracks in a Chain of Atoms at Low Temperature
We consider a one-dimensional classical many-body system with interaction potential of Lennard–Jones type in the thermodynamic limit at low temperature 1/β∈(0,∞). The ground state is a periodic lattice. We show that when the density is strictly smaller than the density of the ground state lattice, the system with N particles fills space by alternating approximately crystalline domains (clusters) with empty domains (voids) due to cracked bonds. The number of domains is of the order of Nexp(−βesurf/2) with esurf>0 a surface energy. For the proof, the system is mapped to an effective model, which is a low-density lattice gas of defects. The results require conditions on the interactions between defects. We succeed in verifying these conditions for next-nearest neighbor interactions, applying recently derived uniform estimates of correlations.
Revealing the co-action of viscous and multistability hysteresis in an adhesive, nominally flat punch: A combined numerical and experimental study
Viscoelasticity is well known to cause a significant hysteresis of crack closure and opening when an elastomer is brought in and out of contact with a flat, rigid counterface. In contrast, the idea that adhesive hysteresis can also result under quasi-static driving due to small-scale, elastic multistability is relatively new. Here, we study a system in which both mechanisms act concurrently. Specifically, we compare the simulated and experimentally measured time evolution of the interfacial force and the real contact area between a soft elastomer and a rigid, flat punch, to which small-scale, single-sinusoidal roughness is added. To this end, we further the Green's function molecular dynamics method and extend recently developed imaging techniques to elucidate the rate- and preload-dependence of the pull-off process. Our results reveal that hysteresis is much enhanced when the saddle points of the topography come into contact, which, however, is impeded by viscoelastic forces and may require sufficiently large preloads. A similar coaction of viscous- and multistability effects is expected to occur in macroscopic polymer contacts and be relevant, e.g., for pressure-sensitive adhesives and modern adhesive gripping devices.
Analysis of improved Nernst–Planck–Poisson models of compressible isothermal electrolytes
We consider an improved Nernst–Planck–Poisson model first proposed by Dreyer et al. in 2013 for compressible isothermal electrolytes in non-equilibrium. The elastic deformation of the medium, that induces an inherent coupling of mass and momentum transport, is taken into account. The model consists of convection–diffusion–reaction equations for the constituents of the mixture, of the Navier–Stokes equation for the barycentric velocity and of the Poisson equation for the electrical potential. Due to the principle of mass conservation, cross-diffusion phenomena must occur, and the mobility matrix (Onsager matrix) has a non-trivial kernel. In this paper, we establish the existence of a global-in-time weak solution, allowing for a general structure of the mobility tensor and for chemical reactions with fast nonlinear rates in the bulk and on the active boundary. We characterise the singular states of the system, showing that the chemical species can vanish only globally in space, and that this phenomenon must be concentrated in a compact set of measure zero in time.
Surface Energy and Boundary Layers for a Chain of Atoms at Low Temperature
We analyze the surface energy and boundary layers for a chain of atoms at low temperature for an interaction potential of Lennard–Jones type. The pressure (stress) is assumed to be small but positive and bounded away from zero, while the temperature β- 1 goes to zero. Our main results are: (1) As β→ ∞ at fixed positive pressure p> 0 , the Gibbs measures μβ and νβ for infinite chains and semi-infinite chains satisfy path large deviations principles. The rate functions are bulk and surface energy functionals E¯ bulk and E¯ surf. The minimizer of the surface functional corresponds to zero temperature boundary layers; (2) The surface correction to the Gibbs free energy converges to the zero temperature surface energy, characterized with the help of the minimum of E¯ surf; (3) The bulk Gibbs measure and Gibbs free energy can be approximated by their Gaussian counterparts; (4) Bounds on the decay of correlations are provided, some of them uniform in β. © 2020, The Author(s).
Stochastic homogenization on perforated domains II – Application to nonlinear elasticity models
Based on a recent work that exposed the lack of uniformly bounded (Formula presented.) extension operators on randomly perforated domains, we study stochastic homogenization of nonlinear p-elasticity, (Formula presented.), on such structures using instead the extension operators constructed in former works. We thereby introduce two-scale convergence methods on such random domains under the intrinsic loss of regularity and prove some generally useful calculus theorems on the probability space, for example, abstract Gauss theorems.
Analysis and simulations for a phase-field fracture model at finite strains based on modified invariants
Phase-field models have already been proven to predict complex fracture patterns for brittle fracture at small strains. In this paper we discuss a model for phase-field fracture at finite deformations in more detail. Among the identification of crack location and projection of crack growth the numerical stability is one of the main challenges in solid mechanics. Here we present a phase-field model at finite strains, which takes into account the anisotropy of damage by applying an anisotropic split of the modified invariants of the right Cauchy-Green strain tensor. We introduce a suitable weak notion of solution that also allows for a spatial and temporal discretization of the model. In this framework we study the existence of solutions and we show that the time-discrete solutions converge in a weak sense to a solution of the time-continuous formulation of the model. Numerical examples in two and three space dimensions illustrate the range of validity of the analytical results.
Understanding the transgression of global and regional freshwater planetary boundaries
Freshwater ecosystems have been degraded due to intensive freshwater abstraction. Therefore, environmental flow requirements (EFRs) methods have been proposed to maintain healthy rivers and/or restore river flows. In this study, we used the Variable Monthly Flow (VMF) method to calculate the transgression of freshwater planetary boundaries: (1) natural deficits in which flow does not meet EFRs due to climate variability, and (2) anthropogenic deficits caused by water abstractions. The novelty is that we calculated spatially and cumulative monthly water deficits by river types including the frequency, magnitude and causes of environmental flow (EF) deficits (climatic and/or anthropogenic). Water deficit was found to be a regional rather than a global concern (less than 5% of total discharge). The results show that, from 1960 to 2000, perennial rivers with low flow alteration, such as the Amazon, had an EF deficit of 2–12% of the total discharge, and that the climate deficit was responsible for up to 75% of the total deficit. In rivers with high seasonality and high water abstractions such as the Indus, the total deficit represents up to 130% of its total discharge, 85% of which is due to withdrawals. We highlight the need to allocate water to humans and ecosystems sustainably. This article is part of the Royal Society Science+ meeting issue ‘Drought risk in the Anthropocene’.
Local Well-Posedness of Strong Solutions to the Three-Dimensional Compressible Primitive Equations
This work is devoted to establishing the local-in-time well-posedness of strong solutions to the three-dimensional compressible primitive equations of atmospheric dynamics. It is shown that strong solutions exist, are unique, and depend continuously on the initial data, for a short time in two cases: with gravity but without vacuum, and with vacuum but without gravity. © 2021, The Author(s).
Maximally dissipative solutions for incompressible fluid dynamics
We introduce the new concept of maximally dissipative solutions for a general class of isothermal GENERIC systems. Under certain assumptions, we show that maximally dissipative solutions are well-posed as long as the bigger class of dissipative solutions is non-empty. Applying this result to the Navier–Stokes and Euler equations, we infer global well-posedness of maximally dissipative solutions for these systems. The concept of maximally dissipative solutions coincides with the concept of weak solutions as long as the weak solutions inherits enough regularity to be unique.
Symmetries in transmission electron microscopy imaging of crystals with strain
Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images of strained crystals often exhibit symmetries, the source of which is not always clear. To understand these symmetries, we distinguish between symmetries that occur from the imaging process itself and symmetries of the inclusion that might affect the image. For the imaging process, we prove mathematically that the intensities are invariant under specific transformations. A combination of these invariances with specific properties of the strain profile can then explain symmetries observed in TEM images. We demonstrate our approach to the study of symmetries in TEM images using selected examples in the field of semiconductor nanostructures such as quantum wells and quantum dots.