The discovery of quasicrystals three decades ago unveiled a class of matter that exhibits long-range order but lacks translational periodicity. Owing to their unique structures, quasicrystals possess many unusual properties. However, a well-known bottleneck that impedes their widespread application is their intrinsic brittleness: plastic deformation has been found to only be possible at high te...

We use a strain-rate-dependent visco-plastic rheology in a finite element model to investigate the effects of crustal rheology and thermal structure on the development of normal faults in 2-D extending lithosphere. Strain-rate softening in the brittle regime is used to simulate the rate-dependence of frictional strength observed in laboratory studies. Results of numerical experiments show that ...

Experimental evidence is presented to show that significant rotations of brittle phase inclusions of a Fe-rich intermetallic phase occur during plastic deformation on an Al Mg Si base wrought aluminum alloy. The particle rotations are quantitatively characterized, for uniaxial tension, compression, torsion, and notch-tension test specimens strained to different strain levels. The particle rotat...

Here we report novel phase-separation behavior accompanying mechanical fracture ("fracture phase separation"), which is observed in polymer solutions. Surprisingly, mechanical fracture becomes a dominant coarsening process of the phase separation. The transition from viscoelastic to fracture phase separation corresponds to the "ductile-to-brittle transition" in fracture of materials under shear...

In this paper, a research study is presented focusing on the effect of substituting brittle concrete in conventional reinforced concrete column members with a ductile engineered cementitious composite (ECC). Based on the material properties of ECC, the interaction with structural reinforcement is characterized by compatible deformations of the reinforcement and ECC matrix in the elastic and ine...

Introduction: The existence of global oceans on some icy satellites—Europa and Enceladus, for example—implies the presence of a ductile warm ice layer. However, the role of such a ductile layer in controlling icy-surface deformation has never been systematically investigated nor quantified. We aim to address this issue by combining previous observations from geomorphological mapping of surface ...

[1] The key geological observations and structural interpretations associated with the current plume hypothesis for Venusian crustal plateau formation are that (1) shortwavelength, spatially periodic tectonic structures originated as mechanical instabilities in a regionally extensive surface brittle layer whose basal boundary was thermally generated and controlled; (2) characteristic wavelength...