Related papers: Cracks Cleave Crystals
In the continuum limit, the theory of dislocations in crystals predicts a divergence in the elastic energy of the host material at a crystal geometry dependent limiting (or critical) velocity $v_c$. Explicit expressions for $v_c$ are…
Cracks in thin layers are influenced by what lies beneath them. From buried craters to crocodile skin, crack patterns are found over an enormous range of length scales. Regardless of absolute size, their substrates can dramatically…
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…
We argue that nucleation of brittle cracks in initially flawless soft elastic solids is preceded by a nonlinear elastic instability, which cannot be captured without accounting for geometrical precise description of finite elastic…
We study pattern selection of cracks in directionally drying fractures by analyzing the experimental systems recently devised by C. Allain and L. Limat. [Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 74}, 2981 (1995).] Proposing a simple picture of crack…
Why do curling stones curl? That is a question physicists are often asked, yet no answer has been established. Stones rotating clockwise curl right, contrary to our naive expectations. After a century of debate between contradicting…
Motivated by recent experiments, we present a study of the dynamics of cracks in thin sheets. While the equations of elasticity for thin plates are well known, there remains the question of path selection for a propagating crack. We invoke…
We study the dynamics of cracks in brittle materials when the velocity of the crack is comparable to the sound velocity by means of lattice simulations. Inertial and damped dynamics are analyzed. It is shown that dissipation strongly…
We investigate experimentally and theoretically the dynamics of a crack front during the micro-instabilities taking place in heterogeneous materials between two successive equilibrium positions. We focus specifically on the spatio-temporal…
A newly developed sharp interface model describes crack propagation by a phase transition process. We solve this free boundary problem numerically and obtain steady state solutions with a self-consistently selected propagation velocity and…
The dynamics of tensile crack fronts restricted to advance in a plane are studied. In an ideal linear elastic medium, a propagating mode along the crack front with a velocity slightly less than the Rayleigh wave velocity, is found to exist.…
A two-dimensional atomic mass spring system is investigated for critical fracture loads and its crack path geometry. We rigorously prove that, in the discrete-to-continuum limit, the minimal energy of a crystal under uniaxial tension leads…
It has been shown that temperature cycles on airless bodies of our Solar System can cause damaging of surface materials. Nevertheless, propagation mechanisms in the case of space objects are still poorly understood. Present work combines a…
Crack propagation is studied in a two dimensional decagonal model quasicrystal. The simulations reveal the dominating role of highly coordinated atomic environments as structure intrinsic obstacles for both dislocation motion and crack…
The failure of frictional interfaces -- the process of frictional rupture -- is widely assumed to feature crack-like properties, with far-reaching implications for various disciplines, ranging from engineering tribology to earthquake…
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…
The motion of topological defects is an important feature of the dynamics of all liquid crystals, and is especially conspicuous in active liquid crystals. Understanding defect motion is a challenging theoretical problem, because the…
A continuum model of crack propagation is presented and discussed. We obtain steady state solutions with a self-consistently selected propagation velocity and shape of the crack, provided that elastodynamic and viscoelastic effects are…
A mathematical continuum limit of the interaction energy of a random particle chain is shown to yield new insight into the effect of microscopic heterogeneities on macroscopic fracture laws in brittle materials. We derive a formula which…
Fracture is a fundamental mechanism of materials failure. Propagating cracks can exhibit a rich dynamical behavior controlled by a subtle interplay between microscopic failure processes in the crack tip region and macroscopic elasticity. We…