Nonclassical nucleation and growth of cohesive tensile cracks

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
We analyze the nucleation and growth of cohesive tensile cracks using a field-theoretic formulation in which the free energy is written as a functional of the crack separation (offset field). Our results indicate that for certain materials, crack nucleation and growth proceed through the formation and extension of a diffuse ‘‘halo’’ surrounding the classical portion of the crack. This is similar to nonclassical nucleation in magnetic systems. Theoretical considerations and numerical calculations strongly suggest that the diffuse halo can be identified with the fracture ‘‘process zone’’ seen in laboratory studies of advancing cracks.

This publication has 14 references indexed in Scilit: