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We present a variational reduced-order model for three-dimensional coplanar propagation of sharp cracks in heterogeneous perfectly brittle solids under mixed-mode I+II+III loading. The approach connects the variational fracture formulation…
We study the stability and roughness of propagating cracks in heterogeneous brittle two-dimensional elastic materials. We begin by deriving an equation of motion describing the dynamics of such a crack in the framework of Linear Elastic…
The two-dimensional oscillatory crack instability, experimentally observed in a class of brittle materials under strongly dynamic conditions, has been recently reproduced by a nonlinear phase-field fracture theory. Here we highlight the…
Theories of toughness of materials depend on an understanding of the characteristic instabilities of the crack tip, and their possible interactions. In this paper we examine the effect of dislocation emission on subsequent cleavage of a…
Failure in brittle materials under dynamic loading conditions is a result of the propagation and coalescence of microcracks. Simulating this mechanism at the continuum level is computationally expensive or, in some cases, intractable. The…
The onset of frictional motion at the interface between two distinct bodies in contact is characterized by the propagation of dynamic rupture fronts. We combine friction experiments and numerical simulations to study the properties of these…
We present high resolution measurements of the displacement and strain fields near the tip of a dynamic (Mode I) crack. The experiments are performed on polyacrylamide gels, brittle elastomers whose fracture dynamics mirror those of typical…
We consider a model of fragmentation of sheet by cracks that move with a velocity in preferred direction, but undergo random transverse displacements as they move. There is a non-zero probability of crack-splitting, and the split cracks…
Brittle materials subjected to thermal shocks experience strong temperature gradients that in turn give rise to mechanical stresses that can be large enough to induce fracture. This work presents a complete model for phase-field fracture…
Cracks in brittle materials produce two types of generic surface structures: facets at low velocities and micro-branches at higher ones. Here we observe a transition from faceting to micro-branching in polyacrylamide gels that is…
The problem of dynamic symmetric branching of an initial single brittle crack propagating at a given speed under plane loading conditions is studied within a continuum mechanics approach. Griffith's energy criterion and the principle of…
Cracks in clay are significant in geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering (e.g., embankment erosion and stability of landfill cover systems). This article studies the mechanism of nucleation and growth of cracks in clay at the…
We study experimentally the slow growth of a single crack in a fibrous material and observe stepwise growth dynamics. We model the material as a lattice where the crack is pinned by elastic traps and grows due to thermally activated stress…
We derive a general crack propagation law for slow brittle cracking, in two and three dimensions, using symmetry, gauge invariance, and gradient expansions. Our derivation provides explicit justification for the ``principle of local…
Dynamic Mode III interfacial fracture in a dissimilar square-cell lattice, composed of two contrasting mass-spring lattice half-planes joined at an interface, is considered. The fracture, driven by a remotely applied load, is assumed to…
We report results on the interrelation between driving force, roughness exponent, branching and crack speed in a finite element model. We show that for low applied loadings the crack speed reaches the values measured in the experiments, and…
We present a phase field formulation for fracture in functionally graded materials (FGMs). The model builds upon homogenization theory and accounts for the spatial variation of elastic and fracture properties. Several paradigmatic case…
These notes address the mechanics of propagating hydraulic fractures (HF). In the first part, we focus on how different physical mechanisms (dissipation in fluid and solid, fluid storage in fracture and its exchange with permeable rock,…
In this paper, we'll answer several abstract, formal questions about the nature of crack growth and nucleation. Bringing a field theory point of view to fracture illuminates things in what I hope will be an entertaining way. Formally, what…
We derive sharp-interface models for one-dimensional brittle fracture via the inverse-deformation approach. Methods of Gamma-convergence are employed to obtain the singular limits of previously proposed models. The latter feature a local,…