Uncovering avalanche sources via acceleration measurements

• Published in: Nature communications 2024-08, Vol.15 (1), p.7474-10, Article 7474
• Main Authors: Bronstein, Emil, Faran, Eilon, Talmon, Ronen, Shilo, Doron
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 639/301/119/2795; 639/301/930/12; Acoustic emission; Amplitudes; Avalanches; Deformation; Deformation effects; Emission measurements; Experimental methods; Humanities and Social Sciences; Magnesium; multidisciplinary; Physical characteristics; Physical properties; Power law; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Transfer functions; Upper bounds
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-51622-0

Avalanche sources describe rapid and local events that govern deformation processes in various materials. The fundamental differences between an avalanche source and its associated measured acoustic emission (AE) signal are encoded in the acoustic transfer function, which undesirably modifies the properties of the source. Consequently, information about the physical characteristics of avalanche sources is scarce and its exposure poses a great challenge. We introduce a novel experimental method based on acceleration measurements, which eliminates the effect of the transfer function and distills the avalanche source. Applying this method to deformation twinning in magnesium shows that the amplitudes and characteristic times of avalanche sources are unrelated by a clear physical law. Conversely, the amplitudes and durations of AE signals are related by a power law, which is attributed to the transfer function. Using our method, we identify and compute a new feature of avalanche sources, which is directly linked to the growth rate of the twinned volume. This feature displays a power-law distribution, implying an unpredicted behavior at dynamic criticality. Simultaneously, the characteristic times of avalanche sources possess an intrinsic upper bound, indicating a predicted limit that relates to the underlying physical process of twinning. Avalanche events emerge in the mechanical deformation of numerous materials. However, the avalanche sources that give rise to those ubiquitous events have remained unexplored until now. Here, the authors uncover the source functions, providing insights into the dynamics of the mechanical deformation.