Adviser: Florin Bobaru Damage and failure in composite materials under dynamic loading has been extensively studied in experiments for several decades. Composite materials exhibit various damage and failure patterns under different loading rates, such as splitting and branching. Classical models cannot directly be applied to problems with discontinuous fields. A new nonlocal continuum model, pe...

The present work is concerned with the verification and validation of a variant of the eigenfracture scheme of Schmidt et al. (2009) based on element erosion, which we refer to as eigenerosion. Eigenerosion is derived from the general eigenfracture scheme by restricting the eigendeformations in a binary sense: they can be either zero, in which case the local behavior is elastic, or they can be ...

There are prevailing concerns with the critical dimensions when conventional theories break down. Here we find that the Griffith criterion remains valid for cracks down to 10 nm but overestimates the strength of shorter cracks. We observe the preferred crack extension along the zigzag edge in graphene, and explain this phenomenon by local strength-based failure rather than energy-based Griffith...

The aim of the present paper is a systematic elab1 oration of a three dimensional finite element analysis tool for 2 discontinuous fracture in brittle solids. Brittle or quasi-brittle 3 fracture usually occurs when a material reaches the limit of its 4 strength and no plastic deformation has been observed prior 5 to failure. In the present approach, this kind of failure is char6 acterized by th...

Defects in crystalline structure are commonly believed to degrade the ideal strength of carbon nanotubes. However, the fracture mechanisms induced by such defects, as well as the validity of solid mechanics theories at the nanoscale, are still under debate. We show that the fracture toughness of single-walled nanotubes (SWNTs) conforms to the classic theory of fracture mechanics, even for the s...

will preside Professor P. Balaram, Director Date : Tuesday, 11th October 2011 Venue : Faculty Hall, Main Building Time : 4-00 p.m INDIAN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE BANGALORE Fracture Behaviour of Bulk Metallic Glasses Cordially invites you to the on by Professor Narasimhan Ramarathnam Department of Mechanical Engineering INSTITUTE COLLOQUIUM Tea: 5-15 p.m Reception Hall Bulk Metallic Glasses (BMGs) a...

The twig bases within the genus Salix were investigated. Brittleness of twig bases as defined in the literature neither correlates with Young's modulus nor with growth strains, which were measured for S. alba, S. fragilis and S. x rubens. For the species S. alba, S. appendiculata, S. eleagnos, S. fragilis, S. purpurea, S. triandra, S. viminalis, and S. x rubens, fracture surfaces of broken twig...

A 2D, hexagonal in geometry, statistical model of fracture is proposed. The model is based on the drying fracture process of the bamboo Guadua angustifolia. A network of flexible cells are joined by brittle junctures of fixed Young moduli that break at a certain thresholds in tensile force. The system is solved by means of the Finite Element Method (FEM). The distribution of avalanche breakings...

In this research an attempt is made to modify the brittle poly (Lactic acid) (PLA) into flexible PLA by adding Poly (Butylene Succinate) (PBS), Poly (Ethylene Glycol) (PEG) and Ricinoleic acid (R.ACID) as a plasticizer. Various plasticizers with different weight % of plasticizers 10%, 20% and 30% in wt% for PLA/PBS, 5, 10 and 15% for PLA/PEG and PLA/R.ACID are used to make sheets. With the addi...