JTTEE5 23:541–550

DOI: 10.1007/s11666-013-0019-4
1059-9630/$19.00 Ó ASM International

Peer Reviewed
Impact Behavior of Intrinsically Brittle
Nanoparticles: A Molecular Dynamics
Perspective
B. Daneshian and H. Assadi

(Submitted August 16, 2013; in revised form October 2, 2013)

Impact behavior of intrinsically brittle materials at the nanoscale is a topic of growing interest, for
instance, in aerosol deposition and cold spraying of ceramic materials. In this work, we examine the
behavior of single-crystalline brittle nanoparticles upon impact on a rigid substrate, within the framework
of a molecular dynamics model. The model is based on Lennard-Jones formulation, where brittleness is
brought about by using a relatively small cut-off interaction distance. Simulations have been carried out
for different values of particle size and velocity. The results show that despite the induced brittleness,
particles start to deform without breaking into fragments, as the particle size falls below a critical value.
They also indicate that the deformation of particles can be accompanied by poly-crystallization and
bonding to the substrate. The necessary conditions for deformation and bonding are also predicted in
view of an analytical model of impact and fracture, considering the effects of particle size and surface
energy. The results are summarized into a parameter selection map, providing an overview of the
conditions for successful deposition of intrinsically brittle materials, in terms of particle size and velocity.
The predictions are interpreted with respect to the results of the relevant kinetic spraying studies.

Keywords aerosol deposition, cold spray, molecular dynam-

ics, nanoparticles, particle bonding
1. Introduction
Ceramic materials are often viewed as being com-
pletely brittle—i.e., lack the capacity to deform plasti-
cally—at room temperature. Recent studies on solid-state
coating processes, namely, aerosol deposition (AD)
(Ref 1-5) and cold spraying (CS) (Ref 6-8) appear to
contradict this view. By using AD, for instance, dense
layers of intrinsically brittle ceramic materials can be
successfully deposited at room temperature. In this
method, particles of ceramic materials with a diameter of
approximately 100-300 nm are accelerated to relatively
high velocities of 100-500 m/s before impinging a substrate
in a partially evacuated chamber (Ref 1-5). AD may be
regarded as a close variation of CS. Both processes work
on the basis of high velocity impact and bonding of solid
particles. In conventional CS, nevertheless, particles are
typically metallic, hence deformable, have a relatively
larger diameter of 5-50 lm, and are accelerated to mark-
edly higher velocities of up to 1200 m/s. Bonding and
deposition mechanisms in CS are well studied and rela-
tively well understood. A main supposition in CS is that
material deposition takes place essentially via plastic
B. Daneshian and H. Assadi, Department of Materials
Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
Contact e-mail: ha10003@modares.ac.ir.
deformation and adiabatic shear instability at the inter-
acting surfaces (Ref 9). Based on this view, material
ductility is considered as a prerequisite for bonding
mechanism in CS. This is in contrast with the observation
that ceramic materials, which exhibit no ductility at low
temperatures, can in fact be deposited via AD or CS. The
mechanism through which intrinsically brittle ceramic
particles may deform and get accommodated in a dense
and pore-free AD or CS deposit has thus remained an
open question.
An interesting aspect of AD is that it works only if
particles are smaller than a certain size; much smaller than
the typical particle size as used in CS (Ref 1-5). In case of
cold spraying of brittle materials, also, deposition is found
to be feasible only when especially tailored spray materi-
als—often in the form of agglomerates of sub-micron
particulates (Ref 6)—are used. Although the length scale
seems to play an important role in these solid-state
spraying processes, the influence of particle size on the
deformation behavior of intrinsically brittle particles
during high-velocity impact is yet to be fully understood.
On the other hand, the effect of size on the deformation
behavior of materials, in general, is a well-established
subject. It has long been known that cracking in brittle
materials is scale-dependent (Ref 10-13) and that it may
be suppressed completely if the sample is sufficiently small
(Ref 12, 13). More than three decades ago, Kendall
(Ref 13) demonstrated that crack propagation and frag-
mentation of ceramic particles under quasi-static com-
pressive loading is possible only when the particle size is
larger than a certain value. Below this critical particle size,
the material has no ‘‘option’’ but to deform plastically
without fracture. Further to KendallÕs finding, it has been

Journal of Thermal Spray Technology Volume 23(3) February 2014—541

 shown more recently that pillars of intrinsically brittle
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materials can be deformed plastically at room temperature
when their thickness falls below a critical value (Ref 14-
16). In view of these studies, it seems reasonable to con-
ceive that a critical particle size must also exist in kinetic
spraying processes, such as AD and CS, marking the
transition between deformation and fracture.
In this context, the present study aims to provide a
computational basis for understanding the effect of size on
the impact behavior of nanoparticles of intrinsically brittle
materials. Computer models of particle impact allow
detailed analysis of various physical phenomena at very
short time and length scales, which cannot be monitored
experimentally. There are several methods that can be
used for the simulation of particle impact, deformation,
and fracture at the continuum level. These include ele-
ment vanishing technique (Ref 17), mesh splitting method
(Ref 18), node duplicating technique (Ref 19), and
material point method (Ref 20, 21). In order to simulate
the mechanical behavior of brittle materials at the nano-
scale; however, one should also take into account the
surface energy effects, which become particularly promi-
nent at nanoscale. In this respect, molecular dynamics
(MD) (Ref 22, 23) may be regarded as a suitable method
of simulation. In this method, the movements and inter-
actions of atoms or molecules are calculated based on the
Newtonian equations of motion. The method is particu-
larly suited for the study of physical and mechanical
properties of materials at small length scales (Ref 23, 24).
There are various examples of particle-based simulation of
cluster deposition in the literature (Ref 25-32). The most
relevant study, which employs MD and focuses particu-
larly on the impact behavior of brittle nanoparticles, has
been carried out by Ogawa (Ref 33-35). Ogawa explored
the influence of various parameters, such as particle
velocity and crystallographic orientations, on the impact
behavior of nanoparticles in AD.
Here, we explore the problem further by focusing
particularly on the effect of particle size on the impact
behavior of nanoparticles. In order to illustrate general
features of a brittle-ductile transition, we make use of a
basic MD model, where brittleness is mimicked simply by
incorporation of an adjustable cut-off radius into the
Lennard-Jones potential function. Simulations of particle
impact are then carried out for various values of impact
velocity and particle size. Deformation and fracture of
particles are investigated with respect to the structural
changes of the impacted particles. The overall effect of the
particle velocity and particle size on the impact behavior
of particles is subsequently discussed in view of a criterion
for deformation without fracture, taking into account the
surface energy effects.
2. Method
A molecular dynamics model based on the Lennard-
Jones potential (Ref 23) was used to study the impact
behavior of nanoparticles in two dimensions. In order to
542—Volume 23(3) February 2014
adjust the mechanical response of the model system, to
match that of an intrinsically brittle material, the following
potential function was considered
( h  i
12  6
e rr  rr if rr <rc
U¼ ðEq 1Þ
r
0 if r  rc
where r is the atomic distance between two atoms, rc is a
dimensionless cut-off radius, and r and e are the charac-
teristic length and energy parameters, respectively. In this
way, brittle behavior can be induced and adjusted to the
desired level by choosing an appropriate value of rc. It
should be noted that a lower value of rc leads to more
prominent brittle behavior, but at the same time, it could
result in unrealistically low values of strength. Therefore,
rc should be carefully adjusted to represent realistic
material behavior. Quantitative modeling of brittle
behavior in real ceramic systems can be more appropri-
ately pursued using more elaborate and accurate
approaches, such as those using Ewald summation in three
dimensions. However, as will be demonstrated later, our
MD model seems to be intricate enough to capture main
features of particle impact that are relevant for the pur-
pose of the present study. The equations of motion were
integrated using the Velocity Verlet algorithm. In all MD
simulations, a microcanonical ensemble (NVE) with the
time step of 5 9 1015 s was used. Main simulations were
performed with r = 0.23 nm and e = 0.96 eV. Additional
simulations were also performed with e = 0.32 eV, but
these resulted in qualitatively similar results. The initial
configurations corresponded to an initial temperature of
about 360 K.
Prior to the impact simulations, the mechanical
behavior of the model system under rapid loading was
examined and adjusted via simulated tensile tests. The
objective was to mimic mechanical behavior of real cera-
mic materials, which commonly exhibit a combination of
both high strength and negligible ductility. The atoms
were initially arranged in a two dimensional close-packed
grid—reminiscent of the (111) plane in fcc structure—and
cut into the shape of a prenotched tensile test specimen
(Fig. 1). The specimen, oriented horizontally, had three
parts: one active zone in the middle, one fixed zone
positioned at the left, and one moving zone at the right
side, traveling in the x-direction with a fixed velocity of
20 m/s. The tensile-test simulations were performed with
different values of rc, ranging from 1.2 to 2.5, in order to
identify an appropriate cut-off radius for subsequent im-
pact simulations. As mentioned before, very small values
of rc would be expected to result in rupture at very low
stresses, while very large values would be expected to
result in ductile behavior. Clearly, neither extreme would
represent a real ceramic material, and so, be of interest for
the purpose of the present study. Therefore, the following
criterion was conceived for the selection of cut-off radius:
The largest rc resulting in the highest strength with no
plastic deformation at fracture.
Subsequently, impact simulations were carried out for
single-crystalline closed-packed nanoparticles of about
10-50 nm in diameter, dp, using the same cut-off radius as
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Fig. 1 The model setup and the initial configurations in the MD
simulations of tensile testing (a) and particle impact (b)
obtained from the previous step, i.e., the value that cor-
responded to the samples showing brittle behavior and
high strength in the simulated tensile tests. In this way, the
model was tuned so that all of the nanoparticles consid-
ered for the impact simulations would be intrinsically
brittle. The nanoparticles were given initial velocities, vp,
of 300-750 m/s before impacting a rigid substrate at right
angle. In order to make the substrate rigid, the position of
atoms within the substrate were fixed, though the corre-
sponding interatomic potentials and forces were calcu-
lated, and hence active, throughout the simulations.
Figure 1 shows the model setup and the initial configura-
tions in the corresponding simulations.
3. Results
3.1 Simulated Tensile Testing: Calibration of rc
Figure 2 shows the results of simulated tensile tests.
According to the snapshots, Fig. 2a, there is a substantial
change in the deformation behavior of the specimen when
rc is reduced from 2.5 to 1.5. In the latter case, a crack
Journal of Thermal Spray Technology
grows from the notch at an early stage, leading to rupture
Peer Reviewed
with negligible ductility. As shown in Fig. 2b, the peak
strength of the material in the latter case is nevertheless
high, almost the same as in the former case with noticeable
ductility. Further decrease of rc resulted in a decrease of
the peak strength, as shown in Fig. 2c. According to the
criterion for the selection of rc (Sect. 2), therefore, the cut-
off radius of 1.5 was selected. Note that this value is the
upper limit of rc that can be used to simulate tensile testing
with no plastic deformation at fracture.
The significant effect of rc on the deformation and
fracture behavior can be interpreted as follows. For the
system to deform plastically, attractive interatomic forces
should sustain while interatomic distances increase, during
deformation and slip of the atomic planes. For the
examined model system, this condition is fulfilled only
when the cut-off radius is noticeably greater than 1.5. For
smaller values of rc, the interatomic forces drop signifi-
cantly during slip, as the interatomic distances increase,
albeit temporarily, to values comparable to the cut-off
radius. As a result, plastic deformation via slip becomes
impossible at lower values of rc, and the material ruptures
with no indication of slip or ductility.
3.2 Impact Simulations: Structural Features
In view of these results, the cut-off radius was fixed to
1.5 throughout the subsequent impact simulations. This
allowed the model material to exhibit an intrinsically
brittle behavior with high strength, in consistence with
high-strength ceramic materials. Figure 3 shows the
structural changes during the impact of a single-crystalline
brittle particle. Here, a most prominent feature is the
formation of discontinuities or cracks, both internally and
at the surface of the particle. With the progress of impact,
some of these cracks close partially or completely, while
others propagate further and result in fragmentation.
Another interesting feature is the formation of grain
boundaries, especially near the particle/substrate contact
area.
Formation of grains and grain boundaries can also be
observed in other particles of different size and impact
velocity. An example is shown in Fig. 4. The observed
poly-crystallization appears to result from simultaneous
reorientation of small atomic clusters near the contact
area. The corresponding rotations are nevertheless small,
so that only low-angle grain boundaries formed. This is
also indicated by the calculated diffraction pattern, Fig. 4.
Dislocation formation is also evident in this example,
though this is less common a feature, as compared to grain
boundaries and cracks.
3.3 Impact Simulations: The Effect of Impact
Velocity and Particle Size
Figure 5 shows snapshots of MD simulations after
impact, for various particles and impact velocities. At
relatively high impact velocities, the particles bond
initially to the substrate (Fig. 5a). This stage may or may
not be followed by cracking and fragmentation of the
Volume 23(3) February 2014—543
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Fig. 2 The results of MD simulation of tensile testing, showing (a) snapshots of the specimens, (b) the corresponding stress-strain
curves, and (c) the strength for various values of cut-off radius. The case with rc = 1.5 is taken to represent brittle behavior with the highest
strength

particle. Note that fragmentation is undesirable, as it is
associated with unsuccessful or inefficient deposition. The
resulting effect of impact at high velocities can, thus, be
classified into two categories: (i) bonding, and (ii) frag-
mentation. An important finding is that fragmentation
becomes more likely when the particle size or the impact
velocity is increased. There is also a third behavior, that is
(iii) rebounding of the particle from the substrate, as
shown in Fig. 5b. Rebounding occurs at relatively low
impact velocity, here at 300 m/s and lower, in which case
the particle remains almost intact and un-deformed as it
detaches from the substrate after impact.
4. Discussion
The results of simulations indicate that brittle behavior
can be mimicked by imposing a cut-off radius on the
Lennard-Jones potential. This behavior is manifested as

544—Volume 23(3) February 2014 Journal of Thermal Spray Technology

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Fig. 3 The results of MD simulation for a 46-nm brittle particle impacting a rigid substrate at a velocity of 425 m/s, showing the
development of various microstructural features during impact

Fig. 4 Snapshot of the atomic positions and its respective Fourier transform (calculated diffraction pattern) for a 34.5-nm brittle particle
impacting a rigid substrate at a velocity of 375 m/s. Formation of sub-grains, labeled by letters, and dislocations are evident. The grain
structure is better visible in the inset showing the inverse Fourier transform of the filtered diffraction pattern

the lack of ductility via slip mechanism, and formation of for certain particle velocities and particles sizes, and is
cracks in both tensile testing and particle impact simula- always associated with a structural change, reminiscent of
tions. In the impact simulations, however, there is evi- nanocrystallization, e.g., via dynamic recrystallization.
dence for deformation without fracture. This happens only This feature of the MD simulations is consistent with the

Journal of Thermal Spray Technology Volume 23(3) February 2014—545

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Fig. 5 Snapshots of particles of various diameters after impact at various velocities, showing (a) deformation with or without facture,
and (b) rebounding from the substrate with little deformation
existing experimental studies. For instance, TEM obser-
vations on the AD ceramic coatings have also indicated
formation of nanocrystals, which were one order of mag-
nitude smaller than the original grain size (Ref 6, 7).
Formation of nanocrystals during impact appears to be a
key to understanding the deformation mechanism of
brittle nanoparticles (Ref 32). Further to the high-velocity
impact problem, understanding these microstructural
changes could also provide an insight to the room-tem-
perature deformation mechanism of intrinsically brittle
materials at nanoscale, which is yet to be fully understood
(It should be noted that temperature rise due to particle
546—Volume 23(3) February 2014
impact in AD, calculable via a simple energy balance, is
not nearly enough to bring about plasticity in typical
ceramic materials such as alumina. This is also indicated
by MD simulations, where the maximum homologous
temperature is predominantly below 0.5.). Moreover, such
structural changes are expected to have a significant effect
on the physical and mechanical properties of the deposit,
and hence, are important from the viewpoint of applica-
tions for kinetic spraying processes, such as AD and CS.
Nevertheless, detailed study of deformation mechanism
and recrystallization during impact calls for more realistic
and elaborate MD models (see, e.g., Ref 33-35) than what
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is employed in the present work. The present study is,

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therefore, confined to the general aspects of impact and
deposition behavior, as explained below.
The main aspect of the impact behavior as observed in
the present MD simulations is that smaller particles are
harder to break. That is, the minimum impact velocity
required to break the particle into fragments increases
with decreasing particle size (Fig. 5a). This general
observation is consistent with previous works concerning
static loading, e.g., by Kendall (Ref 13), demonstrating
that below a certain dimension fracture would not occur in
intrinsically brittle materials. It is, therefore, reasonable to
assume that a similar critical size, marking the transition
between fracture and plastic deformation, should also
exist in the case of particle impact.
In order to provide an analytical basis for the estima-
tion of the critical particle size, we consider that there
exists a minimum kinetic energy, Ek, which would be Fig. 6 Snapshots of the fragments of broken particles, showing
a rough an irregular fracture surface
necessary to bring about fracture in a defect-free particle.
This kinetic energy can be conceived to consist of two
parts as follows
Ek ¼ Eel þ Efr ðEq 2Þ
where Eel is the elastic energy stored in the particle, up to
the point of fracture/deformation, and Efr is the fracture
energy. According to this conjecture, fracture, and frag-
mentation will occur, only if the kinetic energy of the
particle upon impact is greater than the value obtained
from Eq 2. Likewise, it means that when fracture does
occur, it ‘‘consumes’’ a part of the kinetic energy that
would otherwise be used for deformation and bonding.
This is based on the presumption that fracture and frag-
mentation counteract bonding and deposition, as men-
tioned before. Each one of the energy terms in Eq 2 can
be written as a function of material and process parame-
ters as follows
Fig. 7 A schematic representation of the non-linear correlation
1 ptd2p 2 between the crack length and the diameter of the region of
Ek ¼ mv2p ¼ qvp ðEq 3aÞ interest, corresponding to a fractal dimension of 1.5
2 8
sion, which is not necessarily an integer number; it is
m Y 2 ptd2p Y 2 between 2 and 3 in a 3D space and between 1 and 2 in a
Eel ¼ ¼ ðEq 3bÞ
2q E 8 E 2D space. For the present 2D model of particle impact, we
assume in a first approximation that the fractal dimension
Efr ¼ stc ðEq 3cÞ of the cracks is 1.5. Figure 7 shows, schematically, an
example of a crack-like geometrical feature associated
where q is the density, Y is the stress at yield/fracture, E is
with a fractal dimension of 1.5.
the YoungÕs modulus, s is the crack length, t is the thick-
Assuming that the example shown in Fig. 7 is roughly
ness of the 2D model system (which has an arbitrary
representative of the crack geometry in the present MD
value), and c is the interfacial energy. The crack length, s,
simulations, the following relationship between the crack
correlates with the particle size, though the correlation is
length and the particle diameter can be conceived
not straightforward. This is so because the crack surface
 n
has a complex geometry, generally characterized as being s dp
rough and irregular (Fig. 6). A description of the crack ¼ ðEq 4Þ
a a
geometry follows.
The fracture surfaces or the cracks in materials are where a is a characteristic length, relating to the length
known to have fractal geometry (Ref 36). In fact, scale of the microstructure, and n is the fractal dimension.
description of the fracture geometry has been an early Combining Eq 2, 3, and 4, with n = 1.5, and rearranging for
application of the fractal concept, and indeed, the reason dp, results in the following relation between the particle
for the selection of the term fractal (Ref 36). According to diameter and the particle impact velocity at the threshold
the fractal concept, cracks are assigned a fractal dimen- of fracture

Journal of Thermal Spray Technology Volume 23(3) February 2014—547


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Fig. 8 An overview of the results of MD simulations, in com-
parison with the analytical model of fracture, showing the win-
dow of deposition (gray area) for intrinsically brittle
nanoparticles
  2
1 Y2 p
dp ¼ qv2p  ðEq 5Þ
a E 8c
In view of the main energy balance, Eq 2, it can be
shown that fracture will be viable only if the particle
diameter is greater than that given by Eq 5. If the particle
diameter is smaller than this value, then the kinetic energy
is not sufficient for the creation of new crack surfaces, and
hence, the particle will either bounce back from the sur-
face or deform plastically. In principle, no other option
will be conceivable. One may also rearrange the above
relation for vp, and in doing so conceive a critical particle
velocity for a given particle diameter, that would equally
mark the transition between fracture and deformation.
The critical condition for fracture in fact links the particle
diameter and particle velocity; either parameter could be
taken as the relevant critical variable interchangeably.
The above analysis can be assessed with respect to the
results of MD simulations, Fig. 8. In the present study, q
and c are 8980 kg/m3 and 2.5 J/m2, respectively (The sur-
face energy is obtained by examining the potential energy
of a block as it is halved into two pieces, with flat surfaces on
the planes of highest atomic density—e.g., 0, 60, or 120°
orientations in Fig. 1a.). The values of Y and E are worked
out with respect to the strain-stress curves as obtained from
the tensile test simulations (Fig. 2b) to be 6 and 120 GPa,
respectively. The only unknown parameter is the charac-
teristic length, a, which is taken here as an adjustable
parameter. A good agreement between the analytical
model and the simulation is obtained by taking a = 0.6 nm,
which is about 2.5 times of the interatomic distance (Fig. 8).
Figure 8 also provides an overview of the window of
deposition in AD, in analogy with the parameter selection
map in CS (Ref 37). This window is, on one hand, limited by
fracture, which occurs as the particle diameter and/or par-
ticle impact velocity exceeds the respective value given by
Eq 5. The fracture limit corresponds to the upper bound of
the kinetic energy, beyond which deposition is not viable
548—Volume 23(3) February 2014
because the particles break into fragments. The deposition
window is, on the other hand, limited by a minimum impact
velocity that is needed to incur plastic deformation and
bonding. This second limit signifies the lower bound of the
kinetic energy, below which deposition in not viable be-
cause the particles bounce back. There is so far no analytical
model to describe the lower bound of the kinetic energy. In
view of the MD simulations, however, one could assume
that the minimum impact velocity depends on material
properties, but it is independent of particle size; for the
present simulations it is roughly around 300 m/s for
e = 0.32 eV, and 375 m/s for e = 0.96 eV. This supposition
has an important consequence. As shown in Fig. 8, there
would be a crossover of these two limiting boundaries of the
deposition window at a particle diameter of about 260 nm.
This means that deposition would never be viable if the
particle size is larger than 260 nm, regardless of the mag-
nitude of the impact velocity.
The latter finding may explain why AD works only when
particles are smaller than a certain size. Interestingly, the
critical particle size as obtained from Fig. 8 is also quanti-
tatively consistent with the typical particle size in AD (100-
300 nm). This quantitative agreement should nevertheless
be interpreted with caution, since the present MD model is
only qualitative, and the analytical model is for a 2D system.
On the other hand, the agreement between the MD simu-
lations and Eq 5 may be taken as a general verification of
the proposed analytical model. It can also be shown that the
extension of the analytical model to three dimensions lead
to an almost identical expression for the critical particle size
(see Appendix). Thus, the analytical model could serve as a
basis for the prediction of the critical particle size in AD of
real materials.
The above analysis may also shed light on CS of brittle
materials. So far, CS of ceramics has been successful only
when the feedstock is in the form of agglomerates of sub-
micron particulates. Because of the bow shock that forms
in front of the substrate, it is not feasible to use nano-
particles in cold spraying. This is so because smaller par-
ticles are more effectively decelerated in the bow shock
region; and hence, sub-micron particles would effectively
be flown away and not reach the substrate, under typical
cold spraying conditions. According to the above analysis,
on the other hand, larger ceramic particles would be
expected to fragment upon impact on the substrate,
resulting in negligible deposition efficiency. That is per-
haps the reason why agglomeration of nanoparticles can
be used as a workaround. In this way, the bow shock effect
can be alleviated, while the size of the particulates, which
impinge the substrate at sufficiently high velocities,
remains under the critical particle size.
5. Conclusions
The present molecular dynamics simulations indicated
three distinct behaviors for the impact of intrinsically
brittle nanoparticles: (i) deformation and bonding, (ii)
fracture and fragmentation, and (iii) rebounding. These
Journal of Thermal Spray Technology
behaviors were shown to depend on two key factors:
particle impact velocity and particle size. Increasing the
impact velocity or the particle size beyond a limit resulted
in fragmentation, while impact below a minimum velocity
resulted in rebounding. The results of simulations have
been interpreted with respect to an analytical model, in
which the kinetic energy of particles was linked to the
fracture energy. Within the framework of the present
analysis, and for the specific material model as considered
for the study, it was shown that bonding and deposition
would be possible only when the particle size is below
0.3 lm, regardless of the value of impact velocity. This
finding is generally consistent with the observations in
aerosol deposition and cold spraying of ceramic materials,
in which the particle size, or the size of particulates within
agglomerates, are generally in the sub-micron range. The
simulations also indicate poly-crystallization of the parti-
cles especially near the contact area, which is also con-
sistent with the existing experimental observations.
Acknowledgments
B.D. is thankful to Professor Michael P. Marder of
University of Texas at Austin for valuable advice on the
calculation of surface energy.
Appendix: Extension of the Analytical
Model to Three Dimensions
For a 3D system, the kinetic, the elastic, and the frac-
ture energy terms can be rewritten as follows
1 pd3p 2
Ek ¼ mv2p ¼ qv ðEq 6Þ
2 12 p
m Y 2 pd3p Y 2
Eel ¼ ¼ ðEq 7Þ
2q E 12 E
Efr ¼ sA c ðEq 8Þ
where sA is the surface area of the crack. In analogy with
the example shown in Fig. 7, the crack can be assumed to
have a fractal dimension of n = 2.5 in the 3D space, so that
one may conceive the following relationship between the
crack surface area and the particle diameter
 2:5
sA dp
¼ ðEq 9Þ
a2 a 16. F. Östlund, P.R. Howie, R. Ghisleni, S. Korte, K. Leifer, W.J.
This leads to the following relationship for the velocity-
dependent critical particle size in a real 3D system
  2
1 2 Y2 p
dp ¼ qvp  ðEq 10Þ
a E 12c
The above relation is almost identical to Eq 5, with the
only exception that the numerical coefficient in the right-
hand side is changed from 8 to 12. This equation shows
Journal of Thermal Spray Technology
that the critical particle size, below which deposition is
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viable, increases with increasing YoungÕs modulus and
surface energy, or with decreasing particle impact velocity,
density and strength.
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