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Surface Energy and Nanoscale Mechanics

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Handbook of Materials Modeling

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Abstract

The mechanical response of nanostructures, or materials with characteristic features at the nanoscale, differs from their coarser counterparts. An important physical reason for this size-dependent phenomenology is that surface or interface properties are different than those of the bulk material and acquire significant prominence due to an increased surface-to-volume ratio at the nanoscale. In this chapter, we provide an introductory tutorial on the continuum approach to incorporate the effect of surface energy, stress, and elasticity and address the size-dependent elastic response at the nanoscale. We present some simple illustrative examples that underscore both the physics underpinning the capillary phenomenon in solids as well as a guide to the use of the continuum theory of surface energy.

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Acknowledgements

Support from the University of Houston and the M. D. Anderson Professorship is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Cullen College of Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA

    Kosar Mozaffari, Shengyou Yang & Pradeep Sharma

Authors
  1. Kosar Mozaffari
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  2. Shengyou Yang
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  3. Pradeep Sharma
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pradeep Sharma .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Physics, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Wanda Andreoni

  2. Department of Nuclear Science & Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Sidney Yip

Section Editor information

  1. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Ting Zhu

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Mozaffari, K., Yang, S., Sharma, P. (2019). Surface Energy and Nanoscale Mechanics. In: Andreoni, W., Yip, S. (eds) Handbook of Materials Modeling. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50257-1_48-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50257-1_48-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-50257-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-50257-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Physics and AstronomyReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

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