The purpose of this "high-risk, High-payoff" research is to develop a new approach to fracture mechanics, called "Quantum Fracture Mechanics" by the PI. This will be accomplished using quantum fracture mechanics to focus in on a single typical problem and analyzing it in detail. The goal is to predict basic mechanical properties of a material (including the nonlinear stress-strain diagram, fracture toughness, the R-curve, and others) in terms of fundamental constants associated with the atomic structure of the material, rather than from macro-scale experiments, as is traditionally done. Such a methodology would be of enormous scientific and practical value. It would allow numerical simulations to be performed that could be used to predict the mechanical properties of new materials prior to their physical realization. Such a tool would allow for the economic and rapid design and attainment of new materials for high performance applications.
