CoSb3 based skutterudite thermoelectric material has superior thermoelectric properties, but the low fracture toughness prevents its widespread commercial application. To determine the origin of its brittle failure, we examined the response of shear deformation in CoSb3 along the most plausible slip system (010)/<100>, using large-scale molecular dynamics simulations. We find that the brittle f...

A new test method is developed for studying mixed-mode interfacial failure of thin films using laser generated stress waves. Guided by recent parametric studies of laser-induced tensile spallation, we successfully extend this technique to achieve mixed-mode loading conditions. By allowing an initial longitudinal wave to mode convert at an oblique surface, a high amplitude shear wave is generate...

Confined interfaces between cement grout and other materials such as embossed steel or rough concrete are formed in an innovative new steel-concrete connection for composite bridges. This article presents the experimental study of such interfaces and investigates the laws obtained from an analytical study, which describe the behaviour of those interfaces subjected to shear loading, static and c...

An in-vitro experiment was designed to investigate the mode of failure following shear fatigue loading of lumbar motion-segments. Human male lumbar motion-segments (age 32-42 years, n=6) were immersed in Ringer solution at 37°C and repeatedly loaded, using a modified materials testing machine. Fatigue loading consisted of a sinusoidal shear load from 0 N to 1,500 N (750 N±750 N) applied to the ...

There are increasing amounts of evidence that earthquake rupture is a mixed process between what is called frictional slip failure and fracture of intact rock mass. In fact, there is a strong possibility that what is called a 'barrier' or 'asperity' on earthquake faults is a local patch of high rupture growth resistance whose strength equals the strength of intact rock. In addition, the lithost...

Bioinspired discontinuous nanolaminate design becomes an efficient way to mitigate the strength-ductility tradeoff in brittle materials via arresting the crack at the interface followed by controllable interface failure. The analytical solution and numerical simulation based on the nonlinear shear-lag model indicates that propagation of the interface failure can be unstable or stable when the i...

During the spring of 2003, the downstream slope of an embankment dam began to move during an extreme flooding event. The current study was implemented to evaluate the slope stability of the embankment and as a case-study to compare the limit equilibrium and continuum modeling methods. Initially, stability analyses were performed using conservative shear strength of soils estimated from both bor...

The failure process ahead of a mode I crack advancing in a ductile thin metal plate or sheet produces plastic dissipation through a sequence of deformation steps that include necking well ahead of the crack tip and shear localization followed by a slant fracture in the necked region somewhat closer to the tip. The objective of this paper is to analyze this sequential process to characterize the...