Related papers: Evolving fracture patterns: columnar joints, mud c…
Despite advances in manufacturing making metal functionally graded materials (FGMs) more common, numerical methods for predicting fracture in ductile functionally graded materials remain limited. In this work we study the crack propagation…
We present a molecular dynamics study of force patterns, tensile strength and crack formation in a cohesive granular model where the particles are subjected to swelling or shrinkage gradients. Non-uniform particle size change generates…
Experiments on vertically oscillated granular layers in an evacuated container reveal a sequence of well-defined pattern bifurcations as the container acceleration is increased. Period doublings of the layer center of mass motion and a…
Various kinds of heterogeneity in solids including atomistic discreteness affect the fracture strength as well as the failure dynamics remarkably. Here we study the effects of an initial crack in a discrete model for fracture in…
A particular failure mode of highly porous brittle materials consists in the propagation of cracks under uniaxial compressive loads. Such 'anticracks' have been observed in a range of materials, from snow and porous sandstone to brittle…
We show that a length scale xi can be extracted from the spatial correlations of the "steep cliffs" that appear on fracture surface. Above xi, the slope amplitudes are uncorrelated and the fracture surface is mono-affine. Below xi,…
Cohesive particles form agglomerates that are usually very porous. Their geometry, particularly their fractal dimension, depends on the agglomeration process (diffusion-limited or ballistic growth by adding single particles or…
Geometrically, foams or covalent graphs can be decomposed into successive layers or strata. Disorder of the underlying structure imposes a characteristic roughening of the layers. Our main results are hysteresis and convergence in the layer…
This text surveys different probabilistic aspects of a model which is used to describe the evolution of an object that falls apart randomly as time passes. Each point of view yields useful techniques to establish properties of such random…
The nucleation of crystals from the liquid melt is often characterized by a competition between different crystalline structures or polymorphs, and can result in nuclei with heterogeneous compositions. These mixed-phase nuclei can display…
We analyze the fragmentation behavior of random clusters on the lattice under a process where bonds between neighboring sites are successively broken. Modeling such structures by configurations of a generalized Potts or random-cluster model…
The fracture toughness of Al/SiC nanolaminates with different layer thicknesses (in the range 10 to 100 nm) was measured by means of micropillar splitting and bending of a notched beam. The crack plane was perpendicular to the layers in the…
Conforming materials to rigid substrates with Gaussian curvature --- positive for spheres and negative for saddles --- has proven a versatile tool to guide the self-assembly of defects such as scars, pleats, folds, blisters, and liquid…
This work is devoted so show the appearance of different cracking modes in linearly elastic thin film systems by means of an asymptotic analysis as the thickness tends to zero. By superposing two thin plates, and upon suitable scaling law…
We explore the following problem: given a collection of creases on a piece of paper, each assigned a folding direction of mountain or valley, is there a flat folding by a sequence of simple folds? There are several models of simple folds;…
A complex network approach is proposed to study the shear behavior of a rough rock joint. Similarities between aperture profiles are established and a general network in two directions (in parallel and perpendicular to the shear direction)…
We review recent theoretical progress on the dynamics of brittle crack fronts and its relationship to the roughness of fracture surfaces. We discuss the possibility that the intermediate scale roughness of cracks, which is characterized by…
Using X-ray tomography, we experimentally investigate the structural evolution of packings composed of 3D-printed hexapod particles, each formed by three mutually orthogonal spherocylinders, during tap-induced compaction. We identify two…
To better understand the mechanisms of fracture pattern development and fluid escape in low permeability rocks, we performed time-resolved in situ X-ray tomography imaging to investigate the processes that occur during the slow heating…
The macroscopic properties, the properties of individual components and how those components interact with each other are three important aspects of a composited structure. An understanding of the interplay between them is essential in the…