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Fracture, my friend: the cutting of gummy metals

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Abstract

The study of fracture mechanics is usually within the paradigm of a failure mode that needs to be avoided. However, both in nature and in modern technology, there exist several situations where an ability to fracture is essential. In this work, we consider the problem of machining highly ductile and strain-hardening metals, such as annealed Cu, Al and Ta. These metals are known by the moniker “gummy metals” due to the large forces and poor surface finish associated with machining them. We investigate a chemo-mechanical technique involving adsorption of organic monolayers on the metal surfaces that causes the metals to become relatively brittle. This transition from ductile to brittle results in > 50% drop in the cutting force and an order of magnitude improvement in the surface finish. Molecular dynamics simulations of the phenomenon show the organic monolayers impose a surface stress on the metal surface which results in arresting of the dislocations close to the surface. The results suggest that a deeper understanding of the underlying mechanism has implications in environment-assisted cracking, stress-corrosion cracking and hydrogen embrittlement.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported in part by NSF awards DMR 2104745 and PFI 2141180.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India

    Anirudh Udupa

  2. Center for Materials Processing and Tribology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA

    Debapriya Pinaki Mohanty, James B. Mann & Srinivasan Chandrasekar

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India

    Koushik Viswanathan

  4. Special Warfare and Expeditionary Systems Department, Crane Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane, IN, 47552, USA

    Jason M. Davis

Authors
  1. Anirudh Udupa
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  2. Debapriya Pinaki Mohanty
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  3. James B. Mann
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  4. Koushik Viswanathan
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  5. Jason M. Davis
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  6. Srinivasan Chandrasekar
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Contributions

AU and SC wrote the main manuscript text.AU, DPM, JBM, KV and JMD performed experiments.AU, DPM and JMD prepared figures.All authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Anirudh Udupa.

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Udupa, A., Mohanty, D.P., Mann, J.B. et al. Fracture, my friend: the cutting of gummy metals. Int J Fract (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10704-024-00767-6

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