Effective Toughness of Heterogeneous Materials with Rate-Dependent Fracture Energy

Albertini, Gabriele; Lebihain, Mathias; Hild, François; Ponson, Laurent; Kammer, David S.

Abstract

We investigate the dynamic fracture of heterogeneous materials experimentally by measuring displacement fields as a rupture propagates through a periodic array of obstacles of controlled fracture energy. Our measurements demonstrate the applicability of the classical equation of motion of cracks at a discontinuity of fracture energy: the crack speed jumps at the entrance and exit of an obstacle, as predicted by the crack-tip energy balance within the brittle fracture framework. The speed jump amplitude is governed by the fracture energy contrast and by the combination of the rate dependency of the fracture energy and the inertia of the medium, which allows the crack to cross a fracture energy discontinuity at a constant energy release rate. This discontinuous dynamics and the rate dependence cause higher effective toughness, which governs the coarse-grained behavior of these cracks.

Citation

Albertini, G., Lebihain, M., Hild, F., Ponson, L., & Kammer, D. S. (2021). Effective Toughness of Heterogeneous Materials with Rate-Dependent Fracture Energy. Physical Review Letters, 127(3), Article 035501. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.035501

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 9, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Jul 15, 2021
• Publication Date: Jul 15, 2021
• Deposit Date: Aug 7, 2023
• Journal: Physical Review Letters
• Print ISSN: 0031-9007
• Electronic ISSN: 1079-7114
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 127
• Issue: 3
• Article Number: 035501
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.035501
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/24059160
• Publisher URL: https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.035501
• Other Repo URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/2003.13805