Title of Document: FRACTURE BEHAVIOR AND THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF POLYCRYSTALLINE GRAPHENE Andrew Fox, Doctor of Philosophy, 2014 Directed By: Associate Professor Teng Li, Department of Mechanical Engineering This dissertation investigates the effect of grain boundaries (GBs) in polycrystalline graphene on the tensile fracture behavior and thermal conductivity of the graphene sheets. Current tec...

A phase-field model based on a modified form of the regularized formulation Griffith’s fracture theory is presented to investigate intergranular and transgranular crack propagations in polycrystalline brittle materials. Grains grain boundaries are incorporated initiation propagation for growth, which elastic anisotropy varies orientation angle, boundary energy related misorientation angle adjac...