LAUSR

Abstract Stability of ideal bcc tungsten crystal under triaxial tensile loading was explored from first principles using an analysis of both elastic and dynamic stability. The triaxial stress state was considered as a superposition of axial and biaxial transverse stresses. The region of attainable stresses which was delimited using the computed tensile stress maxima was marginally reduced by occurrence of soft phonons in the crystal lattice. While, under purely hydrostatic tension, the crystal was predicted stable up to 48 GPa, greater magnitude of a differential stress reduced the value of a mean (hydrostatic) stress associated with first phonon instabilities to about 35 GPa. This value is rather close to that recently determined in experiment. Computed phonon spectra were successfully verified with the help of atomistic models of microscopic lattice deformation.