Anisotropic Nanoparticle Rejamming Triggers Thermodynamic Cavitation in Elastomer Nanocomposites
Abstract
Nanoparticles can dramatically reinforce elastomers while paradoxically causing cavitation at lower strains. Despite decades of research, the microscopic origin of this behavior has remained unsettled. Here, molecular dynamics simulations reveal that cavitation and failure arise from the nanoparticulate reinforcement mechanism itself. Initial jamming of the nanoparticulate network leads to a buildup of negative pressure in the elastomer matrix, reinforcing it and simultaneously driving it towards a cavitation limit. This crisis is initially averted by yield of the particle network. However, an anisotropic rejamming event of the nanoparticles ultimately drives a runaway negative pressure buildup that leads to cavitation and failure. These results identify nanoparticle-network-induced thermodynamic cavitation as the origin of void formation in elastomeric nanocomposites, and they establish collective filler dynamics as a potential point of control of ultimate failure.
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BibTeX
@misc{bhapkar2026anisotropic,
title = {{Anisotropic Nanoparticle Rejamming Triggers Thermodynamic Cavitation in Elastomer Nanocomposites}},
author = {Harshad Bhapkar and Pierre Kawak and David S. Simmons},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.14540},
eprint = {2609.14540},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.14540},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Anisotropic Nanoparticle Rejamming Triggers Thermodynamic Cavitation in Elastomer Nanocomposites
AU - Harshad Bhapkar
AU - Pierre Kawak
AU - David S. Simmons
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/13
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.14540
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.14540
AB - Nanoparticles can dramatically reinforce elastomers while paradoxically causing cavitation at lower strains. Despite decades of research, the microscopic origin of this behavior has remained unsettled. Here, molecular dynamics simulations reveal that cavitation and failure arise from the nanoparticulate reinforcement mechanism itself. Initial jamming of the nanoparticulate network leads to a buildup of negative pressure in the elastomer matrix, reinforcing it and simultaneously driving it towards a cavitation limit. This crisis is initially averted by yield of the particle network. However, an anisotropic rejamming event of the nanoparticles ultimately drives a runaway negative pressure buildup that leads to cavitation and failure. These results identify nanoparticle-network-induced thermodynamic cavitation as the origin of void formation in elastomeric nanocomposites, and they establish collective filler dynamics as a potential point of control of ultimate failure.
ER -