  The mechanical properties of a neutron star crust, such as breaking strain
and shear modulus, have implications for the detection of gravitational waves
from a neutron star as well as bursts from Soft Gamma-ray Repeaters (SGRs).
These properties are calculated here for three different crustal compositions
for a non-accreting neutron star that results from three different cooling
histories, as well as for a pure iron crust. A simple shear is simulated using
molecular dynamics to the crustal compositions by deforming the simulation box.
The breaking strain and shear modulus are found to be similar in the four
cases, with a breaking strain of ~0.1 and a shear modulus of ~10^{30} dyne
cm^{-2} at a density of \rho = 10^{14} g cm^{-3} for simulations with an
initially perfect BCC lattice. With these crustal properties and the observed
properties of {PSR J2124-3358} the predicted strain amplitude of gravitational
waves for a maximally deformed crust is found to be greater than the
observational upper limits from LIGO. This suggests that the neutron star crust
in this case may not be maximally deformed or it may not have a perfect BCC
lattice structure. The implications of the calculated crustal properties of
bursts from SGRs are also explored. The mechanical properties found for a
perfect BCC lattice structure find that crustal events alone can not be ruled
out for triggering the energy in SGR bursts.
