From Simulation to Theory in the Physics of Deformation and Fracture

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Abstract
Fracture dynamics remains a challenging research topic in materials science, mechanical engineering, mathematics, and nonequilibrium physics. Despite nearly a century of intense investigation, several basic problems remain unsolved. In particular, there is still no fundamental understanding of the distinction between brittle and ductile failure; there is still no definitive explanation of how breaking stresses can be transmitted through plastic zones near crack tips, nor is there an adequate understanding of why the energy-release rate even in brittle fracture is often orders of magnitude larger than the rate at which surface energy is created. These difficulties seem to stem primarily from the lack of an adequate theory of deformation near crack tips, where stresses and strain rates are large.

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