Related papers: Pattern selection of cracks in directionally dryin…
In our previous paper (Eur. Phys. J. E 4, 121 (2001)) we proposed a coarse-grained elastic energy for nacre, or stratified structure of hard and soft layers. We then analyzed a crack running perpendicular to the layers and suggested one…
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…
We present a detailed study of a two-dimensional minimal lattice model for the description of mud cracking in the limit of extremely thin layers. In this model each bond of the lattice is assigned to a (quenched) breaking threshold.…
Motivated by recent experiments by Yuse and Sano (Nature, 362, 329 (1993)), we propose a discrete model of linear springs for studying fracture in thin and elastically isotropic brittle films. The method enables us to draw a map of the…
We simulate a two-dimensional array of droplets being compressed between two walls. The droplets are adhesive due to an attractive depletion force. As one wall moves toward the other, the droplet array is compressed and eventually induced…
The present paper demonstrates how a natural crack mosaic resembling a random tessellation evolves with repeated 'wetting followed by drying' cycles. The natural system here is a crack network in a drying colloidal material, for example, a…
A variational discrete element method is applied to simulate quasi-static crack propagation. Cracks are considered to propagate between the mesh cells through the mesh facets. The elastic behaviour is parametrized by the continuous…
We reveal the fractal nature of patterns arising in random sequential adsorption of particles with continuum power-law size distribution, $P(R)\sim R^{\alpha-1}$, $R \le R_{\rm max}$. We find that the patterns become more and more ordered…
Cohesive granular materials, like wet sand, retain their shape before yielding under stress. This solid-like behavior is associated with elasticity. As the loading increases, the material typically flows. However, cohesive materials can…
The invasion of air into porous systems in drying processes is often localized in soft materials, such as colloidal suspensions and granular pastes, and it typically develops in the form of cracks before ordinary drying begins. To…
Superficial (two dimensional) crack patterns appear when a thin layer of material elastically attached to a substrate contracts. We study numerically the maturation process undergone by these crack patterns when they are allowed to adapt in…
Shear cracks propagation is a basic dynamical process that mediates interfacial failure. We develop a general weakly nonlinear elastic theory of shear cracks and show that these experience tensile-mode crack tip deformation, including…
Statistics and thermally activated dynamics of crack nucleation and propagation in a two-dimensional heterogeneous material containing quenched randomly distributed defects are studied theoretically. Using the generalized Griffith criterion…
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…
Fatigue failure of crystalline materials is a difficult problem in science and engineering, and recent results have shown that fatigue crack growth can occur in intermittent jumps which have fat-tailed distributions. As fatigue crack…
The growth of cracks combines materials science, fracture mechanics, and statistical physics. The importance of fluctuations in the crack velocity is fundamental since it signals that the crack overcomes local barriers such as tough spots…
This is the first of a series of three articles that treats fracture localization as a critical phenomenon. This first article establishes a statistical mechanics based on ensemble averages when fluctuations through time play no role in…
Fracture networks are ubiquitous in nature, spanning scales from millimeter-sized cracks in botanical peels to hundred-kilometer-long lineae on planetary satellites. The propagation of a crack is a complex, nonlinear phenomenon governed by…
We investigate the origins of the widely-observed "en passant" crack pattern which forms through interactions between two approaching cracks. A rectangular elastic plate is notched on each long side and then subjected to quasistatic…
The focus of the article is on fracture criteria for dynamic crack propagation in elastic materials with microstructures. Steady-state propagation of a Mode III semi-infinite crack subject to loading applied on the crack surfaces is…