Velocity Fluctuations in Dynamical Fracture: the Role of Microcracks

Original · EN

We address the velocity fluctuations of fastly moving cracks in stressed materials. One possible mechanism for such fluctuations is the interaction of the main crack with micro cracks (irrespective whether these are existing material defects or they form during the crack evolution). We analyze carefully the dynamics (in 2 space dimensions) of one macro and one micro crack, and demonstrate that their interaction results in a large and rapid velocity fluctuation, in qualitative correspondence with typical velocity fluctuations observed in experiments. In developing the theory of the dynamical interaction we invoke an approximation that affords a reduction in mathematical complexity to a simple set of ordinary differential equations for the positions of the cracks tips; we propose that this kind of approximation has a range of usefulness that exceeds the present context.