Mode I crack propagation in hydrogels is step wise

► Mode I crack propagation in hydrogels is step-wise. ► The step wise progression is due to a consolidation process at the crack tip. ► The length of the step is linearly related to the stiffness. ► The time span of each step is hyperbolically related to the stiffness. Cracking is one of the critica...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Engineering fracture mechanics 2013-01, Vol.97, p.72-79
Main Authors: Pizzocolo, F., Huyghe, J.M., Ito, K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Breaking
Computer simulation
Crack propagation
Cracking (fracturing)
Fracture mechanics
Hydrogels
Mathematical models
Mode I
Porous materials
Single notch tensile test
Step-wise
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Summary:► Mode I crack propagation in hydrogels is step-wise. ► The step wise progression is due to a consolidation process at the crack tip. ► The length of the step is linearly related to the stiffness. ► The time span of each step is hyperbolically related to the stiffness. Cracking is one of the critical issues in the design of hydrogels. Numerical simulations on porous materials indicated that cracks may not propagate smoothly but in a step-wise fashion. The purpose of this work was to verify if this was the case and to characterize crack propagation. Performing single edge notch tests, in water and in air, we demonstrated that under tensile loading a crack indeed propagates in a step-wise fashion. Moreover, we found that the stiffness of the hydrogel is related linearly with the lengths of the steps and hyperbolically with the time that each step needs to propagate and break.
ISSN:0013-7944
1873-7315
DOI:10.1016/j.engfracmech.2012.10.018