Dynamic stability of crack fronts: out-of-plane corrugations

The dynamics and stability of brittle cracks are not yet fully understood. Here we use the Willis-Movchan 3D linear perturbation formalism [J. Mech. Phys. Solids 45, 591 (1997)] to study the out-of-plane stability of planar crack fronts in the framework of linear elastic fracture mechanics. We discu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2013-01, Vol.110 (1), p.014302-014302, Article 014302
Main Authors: Adda-Bedia, Mokhtar, Arias, Rodrigo E, Bouchbinder, Eran, Katzav, Eytan
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:The dynamics and stability of brittle cracks are not yet fully understood. Here we use the Willis-Movchan 3D linear perturbation formalism [J. Mech. Phys. Solids 45, 591 (1997)] to study the out-of-plane stability of planar crack fronts in the framework of linear elastic fracture mechanics. We discuss a minimal scenario in which linearly unstable crack front corrugations might emerge above a critical front propagation speed. We calculate this speed as a function of Poisson's ratio and show that corrugations propagate along the crack front at nearly the Rayleigh wave speed. Finally, we hypothesize about a possible relation between such corrugations and the long-standing problem of crack branching.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.014302