Atomistic Simulation of Ageing and Rejuvenation in Glasses

Atomistic Simulation of Ageing and Rejuvenation in Glasses

Marcel Utz 1 , Pablo G. Debenedetti 1 and Frank H. Stillinger 2,3

1 Department of Chemical Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton NJ 08544
2 Princeton Materials Institute, Princeton University, Princeton NJ 08544
3 Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies, Murray Hill NJ 07974

Dec. 1, 1999

Abstract

Slow structural relaxation (“ageing”) observed in many atomic, molecular, and polymeric glasses substantially alters their stress-strain relations, and can produce a distinctive yield point. Using Monte Carlo simulation for a binary Lennard-Jones mixture, we have observed these phenomena and their cooling-rate dependences for the first time in an atomistic model system. We also observe that ageing effects can be reversed by plastic shear deformation (“rejuvenation”), whereby the system is expelled from the vicinity of deep minima in its potential energy surface.

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Last Updated 11-06-01