Physical aspects of fracture : [proceedings of the Nato Advanced Study Institute on Physical Aspects of Fracture, Cargèse, France, 5 June-17 June 2000

The main scope of this Cargese NATO Advanced Study Institute (June 5-17 2000) was to bring together a number of international experts, covering a large spectrum of the various Physical Aspects of Fracture. As a matter of fact, lecturers as well as participants were coming from various scientific communities: mechanics, physics, materials science, with the common objective of progressing towards a multi-scale description of fracture. This volume includes papers on most materials of practical interest: from concrete to ceramics through metallic alloys, glasses, polymers and composite materials. The classical fields of damage and fracture mechanisms are addressed (critical and sub-critical quasi-static crack propagation, stress corrosion, fatigue, fatigue-corrosion . . . . as well as dynamic fracture). Brittle and ductile fractures are considered and a balance has been carefully kept between experiments, simulations and theoretical models, and between the contributions of the various communities. New topics in damage and fracture mechanics - the effect of disorder and statistical aspects, dynamic fracture, friction and fracture of interfaces - were also explored. This large overview on the Physical Aspects of Fracture shows that the old barriers built between the different scales will soon "fracture". It is no more unrealistic to imagine that a crack initiated through a molecular dynamics description could be propagated at the grain level thanks to dislocation dynamics included in a crystal plasticity model, itself implemented in a finite element code. Linking what happens at the atomic scale to fracture of structures as large as a dam is the new emerging challenge. Front Matter....Pages i-xv Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Some Studies of Crack Dynamics....Pages 3-11 Front Matter....Pages 13-13 Fracture Of Metals Part I : Cleavage Fracture....Pages 15-33 The Weibull Law: A Model of Wide Applicability....Pages 35-46 Brittle Fracture of Snow....Pages 47-57 Random Fuse Networks: A Review....Pages 59-72 On Modelling of “Winged” Cracks Forming Under Compression....Pages 73-75 Continuum Damage and Scaling of Fracture....Pages 77-84 Damage of Concrete: Application of Network Simulations....Pages 85-97 Degradation in Brittle Materials Under Static Loadings....Pages 99-109 Study Of The Brittle-To-Ductile Transition In Ceramics And Cermets By Mechanical Spectroscopy....Pages 111-121 Front Matter....Pages 123-123 Fracture Of Metals Part II : Ductile Fracture....Pages 125-146 Fracture Mechanics of Metals: Some Features of Crack Initiation and Crack Propagation....Pages 147-166 A Model of Damage in an Austenitic Stainless Steel by High Temperature Creep....Pages 167-178 Interrelation Between Constitutive Laws and Fracture in the Vicinity of Friction Surfaces....Pages 179-190 Polycrystalline Plasticity Under Small Strains....Pages 191-206 Fracture and Mesoscopic Plastic Deformation....Pages 207-223 Strain Localization in Single Crystals and Polycrystals....Pages 225-241 Front Matter....Pages 243-243 Modelling in Fatigue Remarks on Scales of Material Description: Application to High Cycle Fatigue....Pages 245-258 The Influence of Microstructure and Moist Environment on Fatigue Crack Propagation in Metallic Alloys....Pages 259-269 Cyclic Strain Localization in Fatigued Metals....Pages 271-281 Front Matter....Pages 243-243 Environmental Effects on Fatigue in Metals....Pages 283-304 Stress Corrosion of Glass....Pages 305-320 Front Matter....Pages 321-321 Experimental Challenges in the Investigation of Dynamic Fracture of Brittle Materials....Pages 323-342 Experiments in Dynamic Fracture....Pages 343-352 Propagation Of An Interfacial Crack Front In A Heterogeneous Medium: Experimental Observations....Pages 353-369 Back Matter....Pages 371-371

This wide-ranging survey of the physical aspects of fracture shows that the old barriers between different scales will soon themselves fracture. It is no longer unrealistic to imagine that a crack initiated through a molecular dynamics description could be propagated at the grain level thanks to dislocation dynamics included in a crystal plasticity model, itself implemented in a finite element code. Linking what happens at the atomic scale to fracture of structures as large as a dam is the new emerging challenge. The volume includes papers on most materials of practical interest from concrete to ceramics through metallic alloys, glasses, polymers and composite materials. The classical fields of fracture mechanisms are addressed. Brittle and ductile fractures are considered. The text is carefully balanced between experiments, simulations and theoretical models, and between the contributions by the various communities. New topics of damage and fracture mechanics are also explored, such as the effect of disorder and statistical aspects, dynamic fracture, friction and fracture of interfaces.

The focus in this brief report is on two areas of tensile crack dynamics in elastic-brittle solids that have received recent focus.