We consider some structures where the harmonic ‘feeding’ wave localized at the crack faces can force the crack to grow. First, we present some results related to a lattice with a high-contrast layer, where the wave speed is larger than in the ambient matrix. The analytical solution obtained for the steadystate regime, where the crack speed is independent of the wave amplitude, is used to determ...

Cracks in concrete generally interconnect flow paths and increase concrete permeability. The increase in concrete permeability due to the progression of cracks allows more water or aggressive chemical ions to penetrate into the concrete, facilitating deterioration. The present work studies the relationship between crack characteristics and concrete permeability. In this study, feedback controll...

A numerical technique for modeling fatigue crack propagation of multiple coplanar cracks is presented. The proposed method couples the extended finite element method (X-FEM) [Int. J. Numer. Meth. Engng. 48 (11) (2000) 1549] to the fast marching method (FMM) [Level Set Methods & Fast Marching Methods: Evolving Interfaces in Computational Geometry, Fluid Mechanics, Computer Vision, and Materials ...

Dynamic crack propagation in a unidirectional carbon/epoxy composite is studied through finite element analyses of asymmetric impact (shear loading) of a rod against a rectangular plate. A finite deformation anisotropic visco-plastic model is used to describe the constitutive response of the composite. Crack propagation is simulated by embedding zero thickness interface element along the crack ...

We investigate the roughening of shear cracks running along the interface between a thin film and a rigid substrate. We demonstrate that short-range correlated fluctuations of the interface strength lead to self-affine roughening of the crack front as the driving force (the applied shear stress/stress intensity factor) increases towards a critical value. We investigate the disorder-induced pert...

An extended nite element method (X-FEM) for three-dimensional crack modelling is described. A discontinuous function and the two-dimensional asymptotic crack-tip displacement elds are added to the nite element approximation to account for the crack using the notion of partition of unity. This enables the domain to be modelled by nite elements with no explicit meshing of the crack surfaces. Comp...

Fracture experiments of single silicon crystals reveal that after the critical fracture load is reached, the crack speed jumps from zero to approximately 2 km/sec, indicating that crack motion at lower speeds is forbidden. This contradicts classical continuum fracture theories predicting a continuously increasing crack speed with increasing load. Here we show that this threshold crack speed may...

Fatigue crack growth was investigated in Haynes 230, a nickel-based superalloy. Anisotropic stress intensity factors were calculated with a least squares algorithm using the displacements obtained from digital image correlation. Crack opening/sliding levels were measured by analysing the relative displacement of crack flanks. Reversed crack tip plastic zones were calculated adopting an anisotro...

The detection, location, and sizing of a fatigue crack emanating from a fastener hole in an aluminum plate is investigated. Two linear arrays of surface mounted piezoelectric disk transducers send and receive ultrasonic guided waves that are transmitted, reflected, and scattered by both the joint geometry and the fatigue crack. A tomography algorithm is used to detect and locate the crack. Ampl...

Lasers provide a non-contact and remote inspection method with high resolution and sensitivity. As a crack detection tool, laser ultrasonics can be used to image surface-breaking cracks with microscopic precision. By monitoring the local elastic scattering conditions and dynamic motion fields present in the immediate vicinity of a surface-breaking crack site, the local crack morphology can be m...