Plasticity induced by a shock wave: large scale molecular dynamics simulations

We present the results of large scale non equilibrium molecular dynamics simulations of plasticity induced by a shock wave in a perfect fcc single crystal in the orientation [1 0 0]. Shockley loops are thermally nucleated behind the shock front. The algorithm used to identify and follow the time evolution of the dislocation loops is detailed. It enables the measure of the critical size that a slip fluctuation can reach before it shrinks back to a perfect configuration.