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The classical variational phase-field model for brittle fracture effectively predicts the growth of large pre-existing cracks. However, the modeling of crack nucleation continues to be a significant challenge. Crack nucleation under uniform…
We have studied the propagation of a crack front along the heterogeneous weak plane of a transparent poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) block using two different loading conditions: imposed constant velocity and creep relaxation. We have…
The relevant parameters at the microstructure scale that govern the macroscopic toughness of disordered brittle materials are investigated theoretically. We focus on planar crack propagation and describe the front evolution as the…
Traditional computational approaches in simulating crack propagation in perfectly brittle materials rely on the estimate of stress intensity factors along the rupture front. This proves highly challenging in 3D when the crack geometry…
Material failure by crack propagation essentially involves a concentration of large displacement-gradients near a crack's tip, even at scales where no irreversible deformation and energy dissipation occurs. This physical situation provides…
Bone adapts in response to its mechanical environment. This evolution of bone density is one of the most important mechanisms for developing fracture resistance. A finite element framework for simulating bone adaptation, commonly called…
When cracks form in a thin contracting layer, they sequentially break the layer into smaller and smaller pieces. A rectilinear crack pattern encodes information about the order of crack formation, as later cracks tend to intersect with…
In this study, the crack propagation of the pre-cracked mono-crystal nickel with the voids and inclusions has been investigated by molecular dynamics simulations. Different sizes of voids, inclusions and materials of inclusions are used to…
Modeling the propagation of cracks at the microscopic level is fundamental to understand the effect of the microstructure on the fracture process. Nevertheless, microscopic propagation is often unstable and when using phase field fracture…
Rock formations are very often characterized by the presence of fractures that have grown subcritically over geological time scales and under evolving stress fields. In mechanically layered systems, such fractures can either become…
Mixed mode (I+III) loading induces segmented crack front \'echelon structures connected by steps. We study this instability in a highly deformable, strain-hardening material. We find that \'echelons develop beyond a finite, size-independent…
The evolution of a crack front under mixed mode loading (I+III) is studied using a phase field model in 3 dimensions with no stress boundary conditions. As previously observed experimentally in gels, there is a relaxation toward a geometry…
Fracture propagation is highly sensitive to the conditions at the crack tip. In heterogeneous materials, microscale obstacles can cause propagation instabilities. Macroscopic heterogeneities modify the stress field over scales larger than…
This contribution presents a diffuse framework for modeling cracks in heterogeneous media. Interfaces are depicted by static phase-fields. This concept allows the use of non-conforming meshes. Another phase-field is used to describe the…
Environmentally assisted cracking phenomena are widespread across the transport, defence, energy and construction sectors. However, predicting environmentally assisted fractures is a highly cross-disciplinary endeavour that requires…
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…
The properties of slow crack growth in brittle materials are analyzed both theoretically and experimentally. We propose a model based on a thermally activated rupture process. Considering a 2D spring network submitted to an external load…
In this work, a combined modelling approach for crack propagation in defective graphene is presented. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are used to obtain material parameters (Young's modulus and Poisson ratio) and to determine the energy…
The paper addresses the problem of a Mode III interfacial crack advancing quasi-statically in a heterogeneous composite material, that is a two-phase material containing elastic inclusions, both soft and stiff, and defects, such as…
Magma-driven fractures are the main mechanism for magma emplacement in the crust. A fundamental question is how the released fluid controls the propagation dynamics and fracture geometry (depth and breadth) in three dimensions. Analog…