Abstract
The paper addresses an application of molecular dynamics technique for fracture mechanics. Molecular dynamics simulation is an atomistic approach, while typical numerical methods such as finite element methods are macroscopic. Using the potential functions, which express the energy of a molecular system, a virtual specimen with molecules is set up and the trajectory of every molecule can be calculated by Newton's equation of motion. Several three-dimensional models with various types of cracks are considered. The stress intensity factors, the sizes of plastic zone as well as the dislocation emission are sought to be compared with the analytical solutions, which result in good agreement.