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Fracture mechanics

At the breaking point

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The shape and trajectory of a crack plays a crucial role in material fracture. High-precision experiments now directly capture this phenomenon, unveiling the intricate 3D nature of cracks.

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Fig. 1: Crack tip complexity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Soft Materials and Structures Lab, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA

    Michael D. Bartlett

  2. Macromolecules Innovation Institute, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA, USA

    Michael D. Bartlett

Authors
  1. Michael D. Bartlett
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Correspondence to Michael D. Bartlett.

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The author declares no competing interests.

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Bartlett, M.D. At the breaking point. Nat. Phys. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-024-02455-7

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