Related papers: Discrepancy between sub-critical and fast rupture …
Mode-I fracture exhibits microbranching in the high velocity regime where the simple straight crack is unstable. For velocities below the instability, classic modeling using linear elasticity is valid. However, showing the existence of the…
The method of iterated conformal maps is developed for quasi-static fracture of brittle materials, for all modes of fracture. Previous theory, that was relevant for mode III only, is extended here to mode I and II. The latter require…
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…
We study the nucleation and development of crack patterns in thin composite fibers under tension in this work. A fiber comprises an elastic core and an outer layer of a weaker brittle material. In recent tensile experiments on such…
A dynamic crack will travel in a straight path up to a material-dependent critical speed beyond which its path becomes erratic. Predicting this critical speed and discovering the origin of this instability are two outstanding problems in…
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…
The accurate measurement of fracture resistance in elastomers is essential for predicting the mechanical limits of soft devices. Usually, this is achieved by performing tearing or peeling experiments on thin-sheet samples. Here, we show…
Crack growth is the basic mechanism leading to the failure of brittle materials. Engineering addresses this problem within the framework of continuum mechanics, which links deterministically the crack motion to the applied loading. Such an…
Most of the research concerting crack propagation in discrete media is concerned with specific types of external loading: displacements on the boundaries, or constant energy fluxes or feeding waves originating from infinity. In this paper…
We study the fracture surface of three dimensional samples through a model for quasi-static fractures known as Born Model. We find for the roughness exponent a value of 0.5 expected for ``small length scales'' in microfracturing…
The static friction coefficient between two materials is considered to be a material constant. We present experiments demonstrating that the ratio of shear to normal force needed to move contacting blocks can, instead, vary systematically…
The dynamics of rapid brittle cracks is commonly studied in the framework of linear elastic fracture mechanics where nonlinearities are neglected. However, recent experimental and theoretical work demonstrated explicitly the importance of…
This work outlines a diffuse interface method for the study of fracture and fragmentation in ductile metals at high strain-rates in Eulerian finite volume simulations. The work is based on an existing diffuse interface method capable of…
We introduce a model for the dynamics of mud cracking in the limit of of extremely thin layers. In this model the growth of fracture proceeds by selecting the part of the material with the smallest (quenched) breaking threshold. In…
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…
Fracture of materials with rate-dependent mechanical behaviour, e.g. polymers, is a highly complex process. For an adequate modelling, the coupling between rate-dependent stiffness, dissipative mechanisms present in the bulk material and…
This paper presents an experimental study of the fretting crack nucleation threshold, expressed in terms of loading conditions, with a cylinder/plane contact. The studied material is a damage tolerant aluminium alloy widely used in the…
Ever since the very first human-made knapped tools, the control of fracture propagation in brittle materials has been a vector of technological development. Nowadays, a broad range of applications relies on crack propagation control, from…
We simulate the propagation of a planar crack in a quasi-two dimensional fuse model, confining the crack between two horizontal plates. We investigate the effect on the roughness of microcrack nucleation ahead of the main crack and study…
Fractures are normally present in the underground and are, for some physical processes, of paramount importance. Their accurate description is fundamental to obtain reliable numerical outcomes useful, e.g., for energy management. Depending…