Inequalities of energy release rates in compression of nano-porous materials predict its imminent breakdown

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that the divergence in acoustic energy release rates can serve as a predictive precursor to failure in nano-porous materials, using social inequality measures to quantify and signal imminent breakdown.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method to predict material failure by quantifying energy release inequalities with social inequality indices, applicable to diverging response functions.

Findings

Divergent energy release rates precede failure in nano-porous materials.

Social inequality measures effectively quantify energy release inequalities.

The method is validated through simulations of viscoelastic fiber bundle models.

Abstract

We show that the divergent acoustic energy release rate in a quasi-statically compressed nano-porous material can be used as a precursor to failure in such materials. A quantification of the inequality of the energy release rate using social inequality measure indices help constructing a warning signal for large bursts of energy release. We also verify similar behavior for simulations of viscoelastic fiber bundle models that mimic the strain-hardening dynamics of the samples. The results demonstrate experimental applicability of the precursory signal formulation for any diverging response function near a transition point using social inequality indices.