This paper proposes an adaptive atomistic- continuum numerical method for quasi-static crack growth. The phantom node method is used to model the crack in the continuum region and a molecular statics model is used near the crack tip. To ensure self-consistency in the bulk, a virtual atom cluster is used to model the material of the coarse scale. The coupling between the coarse scale and fine scale is realized through ghost atoms. The ghost atom positions are interpolated from the coarse scale solution and enforced as boundary conditions on the fine scale. The fine scale region is adaptively enlarged as the crack propagates and the region behind the crack tip is adaptively coarsened. An energy criterion is used to detect the crack tip location. The triangular lattice in the fine scale region corresponds to the lattice structure of the (111) plane of an FCC crystal. The Lennard-Jones potential is used to model the atom–atom interactions. The method is implemented in two dimensions. The results are compared to pure atomistic simulations; they show excellent agreement.
The lattice dynamics properties are investigated for twisting bilayer graphene. There are big jumps for the inter-layer potential at twisting angle θ=0° and 60°, implying the stability of Bernal-stacking and the instability of AA-stacking structures, while a long platform in [8,55]° indicates the ease of twisting bilayer graphene in this wide angle range. Significant frequency shifts are observed for the z breathing mode around θ=0° and 60°, while the frequency is a constant in a wide range [8,55]°. Using the z breathing mode, a mechanical nanoresonator is proposed to operate on a robust resonant frequency in terahertz range.