Related papers: Schematic models for fragmentation of brittle soli…
The problem of predicting the growth of a system of cracks, each crack influencing the growth of the others, arises in multiple fields. We develop an analytical framework toward this aim, which we apply to the `En-Passant' family of crack…
In this paper crack initiation, propagation and branching phenomena are simulated using the Pseudo-Spring Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) in two and three-dimensional domains. The pseudo-spring analogy is used to model material damage.…
We study size effects in the fracture strength of notched disordered samples using numerical simulations of lattice models for fracture. In particular, we consider the random fuse model, the random spring model and the random beam model,…
Liquid crystals in two dimensions undergo a first-order isotropic-to-quasi-nematic transition, provided the particle interactions are sufficiently ``sharp and narrow''. This implies phase coexistence between isotropic and quasi-nematic…
We describe a new phenomenon in models of coalescence and fragmentation, that of gel-shatter cycles. These are dynamical, unforced, stochastic cycles in which slow, approximately deterministic coalescence up to and beyond gelation is…
Many growth processes lead to intriguing stochastic patterns and complex fractal structures which exhibit local scale invariance properties. Such structures can often be described effectively by space-time trajectories of interacting…
In spite of the apparent similarity of micro-branching instabilities in different brittle materials, we propose that the physics determining the typical length- and time-scales characterizing the post-instability patterns differ greatly…
Diffuse interface models are widely used to describe evolution of multi-phase systems of different nature. Dispersed "inclusions", described by the phase field distribution, are usually three dimensional objects. When describing elastic…
Dissipative phenomena manifest in multiple mechanical systems. In this dissertation, different geometric frameworks for modelling non-conservative dynamics are considered. The objective is to generalize several results from conservative…
We study three quasicontinuum approximations of a lattice model for crack propagation. The influence of the approximation on the bifurcation patterns is investigated. The estimate of the modeling error is applicable to near and beyond…
The fractal properties of models of randomly placed $n$-dimensional spheres ($n$=1,2,3) are studied using standard techniques for calculating fractal dimensions in empirical data (the box counting and Minkowski-sausage techniques). Using…
Obstructions influence the growth and expansion of bodies in a wide range of settings -- but isolating and understanding their impact can be difficult in complex environments. Here, we study obstructed growth/expansion in a model system…
In this paper we propose a notion of irreversibility for the evolution of cracks in presence of cohesive forces, which allows for different responses in the loading and unloading processes, motivated by a variational approximation with…
I review the status of next-to-leading-order calculations for hadronic final states in deeply-inelastic lepton--nucleon scattering. In more detail, I focus on calculations of (2+1)-jet-type cross sections, describe recent progress in…
The phase field approach to modeling fracture uses a diffuse damage field to represent a crack. This addresses the singularities that arise at the crack tip in computations with sharp interface models, mollifying some of the difficulties…
We discuss the effect that small fluctuations of both local anisotropy and energy density, may have on the occurrence of cracking in spherical compact objects satisfying a polytropic equation of state. A systematic scheme to bring the fluid…
In this contribution, a variational diffuse modeling framework for cracks in heterogeneous media is presented. A static order parameter smoothly bridges the discontinuity at material interfaces, while an evolving phase-field captures the…
Dynamic rupture propagation along an interface between two different elastic solids under shear dominated loading is studied numerically by a 2-D lattice particle model (LPM). The configuration of the lattice particle model consists of two…
We study a stochastic lattice gas of particles undergoing asymmetric diffusion in two dimensions. Transitions between a low-density uniform phase and high-density non-uniform phases characterized by localized or extended structure are…
The fractal structure of directed percolation clusters, grown at the percolation threshold inside parabolic-like systems, is studied in two dimensions via Monte Carlo simulations. With a free surface at y=\pm Cx^k and a dynamical exponent…