Summary
Experimental, theoretical and numerical investigations show that crack kinking and crack branching can be observed and simulated in brittle solids and in the fast dynamical propagation of quasi-brittle fractures. The present study shows that kinking and branching may also occur in the quasi-static regime when an isotrophic or equi-biaxial tensile state of stress arises at the tip of a cohesive crack, and may represent alternative itineraries (i.e. path bifurcation) of the fracture process. Specific reference is made to the common but meaningful case of the three-point-bending test. Various numerical techniques apt to capture the above occurrence are comparatively presented, and the influence of path bifurcation on the overall behaviour of the specimen is discussed.
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Received 8 October 1997; accepted for publication 22 January 1998
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Bolzon, G., Cocchetti, G. On a case of crack path bifurcation in cohesive materials. Archive of Applied Mechanics 68, 513–523 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/s004190050183
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s004190050183