Avalanches in the athermal quasistatic limit of sheared amorphous solids: an atomistic perspective

Abstract: We study the statistical properties of the yielding transition in model amorphous solids in the limit of slow, athermal deformation. Plastic flow occurs via alternating phases of elastic loading punctuated by rapid dissipative events in the form of collective avalanches. We investigate their characterization through energy vs. stress drops and at multiple stages of deformation, thus revealing a change of spatial extent of the avalanches and degree of stress correlations as deformation progresses. We show that the statistics of stress and energy drops only become comparable for large events in the steady flow regime. Results for the critical exponents of the yielding transition are discussed in the context of prior studies of similar type, revealing the influence of model glass and preparation history.