Abstract
Material failure occurs at the small scales in the immediate vicinity of the tip of a crack. Due to its generally microscopic size and the typically high crack propagation velocity, direct observation of the dynamic behavior in this highly deformed region has been prohibitively difficult. Here we present direct measurements of the deformation surrounding the tip of dynamic mode I cracks propagating in brittle elastomers at velocities ranging from 0.2 to 0.8C s . Both the detailed fracture dynamics and fractography of these materials are identical to that of standard brittle amorphous materials such as soda-lime glass. These measurements demonstrate how Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics (LEFM) breaks down near the tip of a crack. This breakdown is quantitatively described by extending LEFM to the weakly nonlinear regime, by considering nonlinear elastic constitutive laws up to second order in the displacement-gradients. The theory predicts that, at scales within a dynamic lengthscale ℓ nl from the tip of a single crack, significant logr displacements and 1/r displacement-gradient contributions arise, and provides excellent quantitative agreement with the measured near-tip deformation. As ℓ nl is consistent with lengthscales that appear in crack tip instabilities, this “weakly nonlinear fracture mechanics” framework may serve as a springboard for the development of a comprehensive theory of fracture dynamics.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abraham FF (2001) The atomic dynamics of fracture. J Mech Phys Solids 49: 2095–2111
Abraham FF, Brodbeck D, Rafey RA, Rudge WE (1994) Instability dynamics of fracture—a computer simulation investigation. Phys Rev Lett 73: 272–275
Abraham FF et al (2002) Simulating materials failure by using up to one billion atoms and the world’s fastest computer: brittle fracture. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 99: 5777–5782
Adda-Bedia M (2005) Brittle fracture dynamics with arbitrary paths III the branching instability under general loading. J Mech Phys Solids 53: 227–248
Afek I, Bouchbinder E, Katzav E, Mathiesen J, Procaccia I (2005) Void formation and roughening in slow fracture. Phys Rev E 71: 066127
Aranson IS, Kalatsky VA, Vinokur VM (2000) Continuum field description of crack propagation. Phys Rev Lett 85: 118–121
Astrom J, Timomen J (1996) Crack bifurcations in a strained lattice. Phys Rev B 54: 9585
Bazant ZP, Novak D (2000) Probabilistic nonlocal theory for quasibrittle fracture initiation and size effect I: theory. J Eng Mech Asce 126: 166–174
Bouchbinder E (2009) Dynamic crack tip equation of motion: high-speed oscillatory instability. Phys Rev Lett 103: 164301
Bouchbinder E, Livne A, Fineberg J (2008) Weakly nonlinear theory of dynamic fracture. Phys Rev Lett 101: 264302
Bouchbinder E, Livne A, Fineberg J (2009) The 1/r singularity in weakly nonlinear fracture mechanics. J Mech Phys Solids 57: 1568–1577
Bouchbinder E, Lo TS (2008) Elastic nonlinearities in a one-dimensional model of fracture. Phys Rev E 78: 056105
Bouchbinder E, Mathiesen J, Procaccia I (2004) Roughening of fracture surfaces: the role of plastic deformation. Phys Rev Lett 92: 245505
Bouchbinder E, Mathiesen J, Procaccia I (2005) Branching instabilities in rapid fracture: dynamics and geometry. Phy Rev E 71: 056118
Bouchbinder E, Procaccia I (2005) Non-universality in micro-branching instabilities in rapid fracture. Phys Rev E 72: 055103
Bouchbinder E, Procaccia I (2007) Oscillatory instability in two-dimensional dynamic fracture. Phys Rev Lett 98: 124302
Bouchbinder E, Pomyalov A, Procaccia I (2006) Dissipative visco-plastic deformation in dynamic fracture: tip blunting and velocity selection. Phys Rev Lett 97: 134301
Boudet JF, Ciliberto S, Steinberg V (1995) Experimental study of the instability of crack propagation in brittle materials. Europhys Lett 30: 337–342
Broberg KB (1999) Cracks and fracture. Academic Press, San Diego
Buehler MJ, Abraham FF, Gao H (2003) Hyperelasticity governs dynamic fracture at a critical length scale. Nature 426: 141–146
Buehler MJ, Gao H (2006) Dynamical fracture instabilities due to local hyperelasticity at crack tips. Nature 439: 307–310
Celarie F, Prades S, Bonamy D et al (2006) Glass breaks like metal, but at the nanometer scale. Phys Rev Lett 90: 075504
Falk ML, Needleman A, Rice JR (2001) A critical evaluation of cohesive zone models of dynamic fracture. J Phys IV Colloq 11: 43–50
Fineberg J, Marder M (1999) Instability in dynamic fracture. Phys Rep 313: 1–108
Freund LB (1998) Dynamic fracture mechanics. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Gao H (1996) A theory of local limiting speed in dynamic fracture. J Mech Phys Solids 44: 1453–1474
Gross SP, Fineberg J, Marder M, McCormick WD, Swinney HL (1993) Acoustic emissions from rapidly moving cracks. Phys Rev Lett 71: 3162–3165
Gumbsch P (2001) Atomistic aspects of fractures. Zeitschrift Fur Angewandte Mathematik Und Mechanik 81: S137–S140
Gumbsch P, Gao H (1999) Dislocations faster than the speed of sound. Science 283: 965–968
Gumbsch P, Taeri-Baghbadrani S, Brunner D, Sigle W, Ruhle A (2001) Plasticity and an inverse brittle-to-ductile transition in strontium titanate. Phys Rev Lett 87: 085505
Hakim V, Karma A (2005) Crack path prediction in anisotropic brittle materials. Phys Rev Lett 95: 235501
Hauch JA, Marder MP (1998) Energy balance in dynamic fracture, investigated by a potential drop technique. Int J Fract 90: 133–151
Henry H, Levine H (2004) Dynamic instabilities of fracture under biaxial strain using a phase field model. Phys Rev Lett 93: 105504
Holland D, Marder M (1998) Ideal brittle fracture of silicon studied with molecular dynamics. Phys Rev Lett 80: 746–749
Holland D, Marder M (1999) Cracks and atoms. Adv Mat 11: 793–806
Holzapfel GA (2000) Nonlinear solid mechanics. Wiley, Chichester
Karma A, Kessler DA, Levine H (2001) Phase-field model of mode III dynamic fracture. Phys Rev Lett 87: 045501
Karma A, Lobkovsky AE (2004) Unsteady crack motion and branching in a phase-field model of brittle fracture. Phys Rev Lett 92: 245510
Katzav E, Adda-Bedia M, Arias R (2007) Theory of dynamic branching in brittle materials. Int J Fract 143: 245–271
Kessler DA (2000) Steady-state cracks in viscoelastic lattice models II. Phys Rev E 61: 2348–2360
Kessler DA, Levine H (1999) Arrested cracks in nonlinear lattice models of brittle fracture. Phys Rev E 60: 7569–7571
Klein PA, Foulk JW, Chen EP, Wimmer SA, Gao HJ (2001) Physics-based modeling of brittle fracture: cohesive formulations and the application of meshfree methods. Theor Appl Fract Mech 37: 99–166
Knowles JK, Sternberg E (1983) Large deformations near a tip of an interface-crack between two Neo-Hookean sheets. J Elast 13: 257–293
Livne A, Cohen G, Fineberg J (2005) Universality and hysteretic dynamics in rapid fracture. Phys Rev Lett 94: 224301
Livne A, Ben-David O, Fineberg J (2007) Oscillations in rapid fracture. Phys Rev Lett 98: 124301
Livne A, Bouchbinder E, Fineberg J (2008) Breakdown of linear elastic fracture mechanics near the tip of a rapid crack. Phys Rev Lett 101: 264301
Lobkovsky AE, Langer JS (1998) Dynamic ductile to brittle transition in a one-dimensional model of viscoplasticity. Phys Rev E 58: 1568–1576
Lu J, Ravi-Chandar K (1999) Inelastic deformation and localization in polycarbonate under tension. Int J Solids Struct 36: 391–425
Lu Z et al (2005) Dynamics of wing cracks and nanoscale damage in glass. Phys Rev Lett 95: 135501
Marder M, Gross S (1995) Origin of crack tip instabilities. J Mech Phys Solids 43: 1–48
Miller O, Freund LB, Needleman A (1999) Energy dissipation in dynamic fracture of brittle materials. Model Simul Mater Sci Eng. 7: 573–586
Needleman A, Tvergaard V (2000) Numerical modeling of the ductile-brittle transition. Int J Fract 101: 73–97
Pardoen T, Hutchinson JW (2000) An extended model for void growth and coalescence. J Mech Phys Solids 48: 2467–2512
Perez R, Gumbsch P (2000) Directional anisotropy in the cleavage fracture of silicon. Phys Rev Lett 84: 5347–5350
Ravi-Chandar K, Yang B (1997) On the role of microcracks in the dynamic fracture of brittle materials. J Mech Phys Solids 45: 535–563
Riecke H (1999) Localized structures in pattern-forming systems. In: Golubitsky DLM, Strogatz S (eds) Pattern formation in continuous and coupled systems. Springer, New York, p 215
Rice JR (1974) Limitations to the small scale yielding approximation for crack tip plasticity. J Mech Phys Solids 22: 17–26
Rountree CL et al (2002) Atomistic aspects of crack propagation in brittle materials: Multimillion atom molecular dynamics simulations. Annu Rev Mater Res 32: 377–400
Sharon E, Cohen G, Fineberg J (2002) Crack front waves and the dynamics of a rapidly moving crack. Phys Rev Lett 88: 085503
Sharon E, Fineberg J (1998) Universal features of the microbranching instability in dynamic fracture. Philos Mag B 78: 243–251
Sharon E, Fineberg J (1999) Confrming the continuum theory of dynamic brittle fracture for fast cracks. Nature 397: 333–335
Siegmund T, Fleck NA, Needleman A (1997) Dynamic crack growth across an interface. Int J Fract 85: 381–402
Slepyan L (1981) Dynamics of a crack in a lattice. Sov Phys Dokl 26: 538–540
Spatschek R, Hartmann M, Brener E, Muller-Krumbhaar H, Kassner K (2006) Phase field modeling of fast crack propagation. Phys Rev Lett 96: 015502
Williams ML (1957) On the stress distribution at the base of a stationary crack. J Appl Mech 24: 109–114
Xu XP, Needleman A (1994) Numerical simulations of fast crack growth in brittle solids. J Mech Phys Solids 42: 1397–1437
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bouchbinder, E., Livne, A. & Fineberg, J. Weakly nonlinear fracture mechanics: experiments and theory. Int J Fract 162, 3–20 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10704-009-9427-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10704-009-9427-3