Elsevier, International Journal of Solids and Structures, 21(43), p. 6359-6379, 2006
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2005.10.003
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This paper presents a systematic approach to treating the interfaces between the localized (fine grain) and peripheral (coarse grain) domains in atomic scale simulations of crystalline solids. Based on Fourier analysis of regular lattices struc-tures, this approach allows elimination of unnecessary atomic degrees of freedom over the coarse grain, without involving an explicit continuum model for the latter. The mathematical formulation involves compact convolution operators that relate displacements of the interface atoms and the adjacent atoms on the coarse grain. These operators are defined by geometry of the lattice structure, and interatomic potentials. Application and performance are illustrated on quasistatic nanoindentation simulations with a crystalline gold substrate. Complete atomistic resolution on the coarse grain is alter-natively employed to give the benchmark solutions. The results are found to match well for the multiscale and the full atomistic simulations.