A stochastic framework for atomistic fracture

Abstract: We present a stochastic modeling framework for atomistic propagation of a Mode I surface crack, with atoms interacting according to the Lennard-Jones interatomic potential at zero temperature. Specifically, we invoke the Cauchy-Born rule and the maximum entropy principle to infer probability distributions for the parameters of the interatomic potential. We then study how uncertainties in the parameters propagate to the quantities of interest relevant to crack propagation, namely, the critical stress intensity factor and the lattice trapping range. For our numerical investigation, we rely on an automated version of the so-called numerical-continuation enhanced flexible boundary (NCFlex) algorithm.