Sub-critical statistics in rupture of fibrous materials : experiments and model.

Stéphane Santucci (1) , Loïc Vanel (1) , Sergio Ciliberto (1)

1 Phys-ENS - Laboratoire de Physique de l'ENS Lyon

We study experimentally the slow growth of a single crack in a fibrous material and observe stepwise growth dynamics. We model the material as a lattice where the crack is pinned by elastic traps and grows due to thermally activated stress fluctuations. In agreement with experimental data we find that the distribution of step sizes follows sub-critical point statistics with a power law (exponent 3/2) and a stress-dependent exponential cut-off diverging at the critical rupture threshold.

Keywords: Fracture; Disordered systems; Slow crack growth

Domains: Physics [physics]; Mechanics [physics]; Mechanics of materials [physics.class-ph]; Physics [physics]; Condensed Matter [cond-mat]; Materials Science [cond-mat.mtrl-sci]

Stéphane Santucci, Loïc Vanel, Sergio Ciliberto. Sub-critical statistics in rupture of fibrous materials : experiments and model.. Physical Review Letters, 2004, 93 (9), pp.095505. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevLett.93.095505⟩. ⟨ensl-00156842⟩