Modeling growth paths of interacting crack pairs in elastic media
Author(s)
Ghelichi, Ramin; Kamrin, Kenneth N
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The problem of predicting the growth of a system of cracks, each crack influencing the growth of the others, arises in multiple fields. We develop an analytical framework toward this aim, which we apply to the 'En-Passant' family of crack growth problems, in which a pair of initially parallel, offset cracks propagate nontrivially toward each other under far-field opening stress. We utilize boundary integral and perturbation methods of linear elasticity, linear elastic fracture mechanics, and common crack opening criteria to calculate the first analytical model for curved En-Passant crack paths. The integral system is reduced under a hierarchy of approximations, producing three methods of increasing simplicity for computing crack paths. The last such method is a major highlight of this work, using an asymptotic matching argument to predict crack paths based on superposition of simple, single-crack fields. Within the corresponding limits of the three methods, all three are shown to agree with each other. We provide comparisons to exact results and existing experimental data to verify certain approximation steps.
Date issued
2015-08Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical EngineeringJournal
Soft Matter
Publisher
Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)
Citation
Ghelichi, Ramin, and Kamrin, Ken. “Modeling Growth Paths of Interacting Crack Pairs in Elastic Media.” Soft Matter 11, 40 ( August 2015): 7995–8012 © 2015 The Royal Society of Chemistry
Version: Author's final manuscript
ISSN
1744-683X
1744-6848