Lecturer: Prof. Ido Regev
Affiliation: Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Abstract:
The physical processes governing the onset of
yield, where a material changes its shape
permanently under external deformation are
not yet understood, for amorphous solids that
are intrinsically disordered. Currently,
continuum materials' modeling relies on
phenomenological yield thresholds. However,
in many cases the transition from elastic to
plastic behavior is gradual, which makes it
difficult to identify an exact yield criterion.
Recently it was shown that under periodic
shear, amorphous solids undergo a sharp
transition from repetitive, periodic behavior
to chaotic, diffusive behavior as a function of
the maximal strain amplitude. In both the
periodic and chaotic regimes, localized
particle rearrangements are observed. We
associate the point of transition with yield
and show that the transition results from a
phase transition in the energy landscape of
the system.