| Issue |
Europhys. Lett.
Volume 62, Number 3, May 2003
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Page(s) | 320 - 326 | |
| Section | General | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1209/epl/i2003-00398-1 | |
| Published online | 01 April 2003 | |
Thermal activation of rupture and slow crack growth in a model of homogeneous brittle materials
1
Laboratoire de physique, CNRS UMR 5672,
Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon
46 allée d'Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France
2
Université de Polynésie Française - BP 6570 FAA'A, Tahiti, French Polynesia
3
Ecole Centrale de Lyon - 69134 Ecully, France
Received:
14
November
2002
Accepted:
28
February
2003
Slow crack growth in a model of homogeneous brittle elastic material is described as a thermal activation process where stress fluctuations allow to overcome a breaking threshold through a series of irreversible steps. We study the case of a single crack in a flat sheet for which analytical predictions can be made, and compare them with results from the equivalent problem of a 2D spring network. Good statistical agreement is obtained for the crack growth profile and final rupture time. The specific scaling of the energy barrier with stress intensity factor appears as a consequence of irreversibility. In addition, the model brings out a characteristic growth length whose physical meaning could be tested experimentally.
PACS: 05.70.Ln – Nonequilibrium and irreversible thermodynamics / 62.20.Mk – Fatigue, brittleness, fracture, and cracks
© EDP Sciences, 2003
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