An analysis of the quasicontinuum method

The aim of this paper is to present a streamlined and fully three-dimensional version of the quasicontinuum (QC) theory of Tadmor et al. (Philos. Mag. A 73 (1996) 1529; Langmuir 12 (1996) 4529) and to analyze its accuracy and convergence characteristics. Specifically, we assess the effect of the summation rules on accuracy; we determine the rate of convergence of the method in the presence of strong singularities, such as point loads; and we assess the effect of the refinement tolerance, which controls the rate at which new nodes are inserted in the model, on the development of dislocation microstructures