Propagation of extended fractures by local nucleation and rapid transverse expansion of crack-front distortion

Cochard, Thomas; Svetlizky, Ilya; Albertini, Gabriele; Viesca, Robert C; Rubinstein, Shmuel; Spaepen, Frans; Yuan, Congcong; Denolle, Marine; Song, Y-Q; Xiao, L; Weitz, David

Abstract

Fractures are ubiquitous and can lead to the catastrophic material failure of materials. Although fracturing in a two-dimensional plane is well understood, all fractures are extended in and propagate through three-dimensional space. Moreover, their behaviour is complex. Here we show that the forward propagation of a fracture front occurs through an initial rupture, nucleated at some localized position, followed by a very rapid transverse expansion at velocities as high as the Rayleigh-wave speed. We study fracturing in a circular geometry that achieves an uninterrupted extended fracture front and use a fluid to control the loading conditions that determine the amplitude of the forward jump. We find that this amplitude correlates with the transverse velocity. Dynamic rupture simulations capture the observations for only a high transverse velocity. These results highlight the importance of transverse dynamics in the forward propagation of an extended fracture.

Citation

Cochard, T., Svetlizky, I., Albertini, G., Viesca, R. C., Rubinstein, S., Spaepen, F., Yuan, C., Denolle, M., Song, Y.-Q., Xiao, L., & Weitz, D. (2024). Propagation of extended fractures by local nucleation and rapid transverse expansion of crack-front distortion. Nature Physics, 20(4), 660–665. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-023-02365-0

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 30, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Jan 29, 2024
• Publication Date: 2024-04
• Deposit Date: Feb 1, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 1, 2024
• Journal: Nature Physics
• Print ISSN: 1745-2473
• Electronic ISSN: 1745-2481
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 20
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 660–665
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-023-02365-0
• Keywords: Applied physics; Materials science
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/30660275
• Publisher URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-023-02365-0
• Additional Information: Received: 27 February 2023; Accepted: 30 November 2023; First Online: 29 January 2024; : The authors declare no competing interests.