Unsteady Crack Motion and Branching in a Phase-Field Model of Brittle Fracture

TL;DR

This paper uses a phase-field model to numerically study crack propagation in brittle materials, revealing insights into crack acceleration and branching instabilities at high speeds.

Contribution

It introduces a continuum phase-field approach to analyze unsteady crack motion and branching in brittle fracture, providing new understanding of crack dynamics.

Findings

Crack speed influences branching instability.

Branching occurs at a fraction of the wave speed.

Crack acceleration mechanisms are characterized.

Abstract

Crack propagation is studied numerically using a continuum phase-field approach to mode III brittle fracture. The results shed light on the physics that controls the speed of accelerating cracks and the characteristic branching instability at a fraction of the wave speed.