Modeling of the temperature-dependent ideal tensile strength of solids

To reveal the fracture failure mechanisms of single crystals at elevated temperatures, a new temperature-dependent ideal tensile strength model for solids has been developed, based on the critical strain principle. At the same time, the uniaxial tensile strength model, based on the critical failure energy density principle for isotropic materials that was presented in the previous study, is generalized to multi-axial loading and to cubic single crystals. The relationship between the two models is discussed, and how to obtain the material properties needed in the calculations is summarized. The two well-established models are used to predict the temperature-dependent ideal tensile strength of W, Fe and Al single crystals. The predictions from the critical strain principle agree well with the predictions from the critical failure energy density principle. The theoretical values from the critical strain principle at 0 K is in reasonable agreement with the ab initio results. The study shows that the temperature dependence of the ideal tensile strength is similar to that of Young's modulus; that is, the ideal tensile strength firstly remains approximately constant and then decreases linearly with the temperature. The fracture failure for single crystals at elevated temperatures has been identified, for the first time, as a strain-controlled criterion.