Energy transfer under impact load studied by molecular dynamics simulation

The process of amorphous silica clusters impact on a crystal silicon substrate is studied by molecular dynamics simulation, focusing on the energy transfer between clusters and the substrate under different impact conditions such as cluster size, impact velocity, and incidence angle. The impact process is divided into cluster deformation stage, cluster resilience stage, and cluster rebound stage according to the courses of energy change during the impact process. The simulation elucidates that the time of impact process of every cluster is only related to cluster size and is independent of impact velocity and incidence angle. The translational energy loss of the cluster and the potential energy increment of the substrate during cluster deformation stage, and the dissipation energy of system are independent of cluster size under the same impact energy and incidence angle. And the translational energy loss of the cluster during cluster rebound stage changes from energy absorption to energy release after the incidence angle becomes more than 60°. The rotational energy of the cluster may be omitted when the incidence angle is less than 15°. The ratios of the rotational energy increment of the cluster, the kinetic energy increment, and the potential energy increment of the substrate to the translational energy loss of the cluster are obviously influenced by impact conditions. And the ratios of the increment of the other categories of energy to the translational energy loss of the cluster are not sensitive to impact conditions.