What is the physical origin of the gradient flow structure of variational fracture models?

TL;DR

This paper explores the physical basis of the gradient flow structure in variational fracture models, linking fracture energy velocity dependence to the models' mathematical properties and energy dissipation behaviors.

Contribution

It derives a physical interpretation of the gradient flow structure in fracture models, connecting velocity-dependent fracture energy to the small relaxation parameter.

Findings

Velocity dependence of fracture energy explains the gradient flow structure.

Energy dissipation identities are established for both models.

Traveling wave analysis supports the physical interpretation.

Abstract

We investigate a physical characterization of the gradient flow structure of variational fracture models for brittle materials: a Griffith-type fracture model and an irreversible fracture phase field model. We derive the Griffith-type fracture model by assuming that the fracture energy in Griffith's theory is an increasing function of the crack tip velocity. Such a velocity dependence of the fracture energy is typically observed in polymers. We also prove an energy dissipation identity of the Griffith-type fracture model, in other words, its gradient flow structure. On the other hand, the irreversible fracture phase field model is derived as a unidirectional gradient flow of a regularized total energy with a small time relaxation parameter based on the variational fracture theory by Francfort and Marigo (1998) and a mathematical space regularization proposed by Ambrosio and Tortorelli (1992). We have considered the time relaxation parameter a mathematical approximation parameter, which we should choose as small as possible. In this research, however, we reveal the physical origin of the gradient flow structure of the fracture phase field model and show that the small time relaxation parameter is characterized as the rate of velocity dependence of the fracture energy. It is verified by comparing the energy dissipation properties of those two models and by analyzing a traveling wave solution of the irreversible fracture phase field model.