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We briefly review a number of important recent experimental and theoretical developments in the field of dynamic fracture. Topics include experimental validation of the equations of motion for straight tensile cracks (in both infinite media and strip geometries), validation of a new theoretical description of the near-tip fields of dynamic cracks incorporating weak elastic nonlinearities, a new understanding of dynamic instabilities of tensile cracks in both 2D and 3D, crack front dynamics, and the relation between frictional motion and dynamic shear cracks. Related future research directions are briefly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The failure of materials and interfaces is mediated by cracks, almost singular dissipative structures that propagate at velocities approaching the speed of sound. Crack initiation and subsequent propagation—the dynamic process of fracture—couples a wide range of time and length scales. Crack dynamics challenge our understanding of the fundamental physics processes that take place in the extreme conditions within the almost singular region where material failure occurs. Here, we first briefly review the classic approach to dynamic fracture, namely linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM), and discuss its successes and limitations. We show how, on the one hand, recent experiments performed on straight cracks propagating in soft brittle materials have quantitatively confirmed the predictions of this theory to an unprecedented degree. On the other hand, these experiments show how LEFM breaks down as the singular region at the tip of a crack is approached. This breakdown naturally leads to a new theoretical framework coined ‘weakly nonlinear fracture mechanics’, where weak elastic nonlinearities are incorporated. The stronger singularity predicted by this theory gives rise to a new and intrinsic length scale, ℓnl. These predictions are verified in detail through direct measurements. We then theoretically and experimentally review how the emergence of ℓnl is linked to a new equation for crack motion, which predicts the existence of a high-speed oscillatory crack instability whose wavelength is determined by ℓnl. We conclude by delineating outstanding challenges in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Material failure occurs at the small scales in the immediate vicinity of the tip of a crack. Due to its generally microscopic size and the typically high crack propagation velocity, direct observation of the dynamic behavior in this highly deformed region has been prohibitively difficult. Here we present direct measurements of the deformation surrounding the tip of dynamic mode I cracks propagating in brittle elastomers at velocities ranging from 0.2 to 0.8 C s. Both the detailed fracture dynamics and fractography of these materials are identical to that of standard brittle amorphous materials such as soda-lime glass. These measurements demonstrate how Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics (LEFM) breaks down near the tip of a crack. This breakdown is quantitatively described by extending LEFM to the weakly nonlinear regime, by considering nonlinear elastic constitutive laws up to second order in the displacement-gradients. The theory predicts that, at scales within a dynamic lengthscale ℓ nl from the tip of a single crack, significant log r displacements and 1/ r displacement-gradient contributions arise, and provides excellent quantitative agreement with the measured near-tip deformation. As ℓ nl is consistent with lengthscales that appear in crack tip instabilities, this “weakly nonlinear fracture mechanics” framework may serve as a springboard for the development of a comprehensive theory of fracture dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experiments on fracture surface morphologies offer increasing amounts of data that can be analyzed using methods of statistical physics. One finds scaling exponents associated with correlation and structure functions, indicating a rich phenomenology of anomalous scaling. We argue that traditional models of fracture fail to reproduce this rich phenomenology and new ideas and concepts are called for. We present some recent models that introduce the effects of deviations from homogeneous linear elasticity theory on the morphology of fracture surfaces, successfully reproducing the multiscaling phenomenology at least in 1+1 dimensions. For surfaces in 2+1 dimensions we introduce novel methods of analysis based on projecting the data on the irreducible representations of the SO(2) symmetry group. It appears that this approach organizes effectively the rich scaling properties. We end up proposing new experiments in which the rotational symmetry is not broken, such that the scaling properties should be particularly simple. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The dynamics and stability of brittle cracks are not yet fully understood. Here we use the Willis- Movchan 3D linear perturbation formalism [J. Mech. Phys. Solids 45, 591 (1997)] to study the out-of-plane stability of planar crack fronts in the framework of linear elastic fracture mechanics. We discuss a minimal scenario in which linearly unstable crack front corrugations might emerge above a critical front propagation speed. We calculate this speed as a function of Poisson's ratio and show that corrugations propagate along the crack front at nearly the Rayleigh wave speed. Finally, we hypothesize about a possible relation between such corrugations and the long-standing problem of crack branching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When branching is suppressed, rapid cracks undergo a dynamic instability from a straight to an oscillatory path at a critical velocity &ngr;c. In a systematic experimental study using a wide range of different brittle materials, we first show how the opening profiles of straight cracks scale with the size ℓnl of the nonlinear zone surrounding a crack's tip. We then show, for all materials tested, that &ngr;c is both a fixed fraction of the shear speed and, moreover, that the instability wavelength is proportional to ℓnl. These findings directly verify recent theoretical predictions and suggest that the nonlinear zone is not passive, but rather is closely linked to rapid crack instabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The edge singularity of cracks is approximately valid for rate-and-state faults. • A physics-based procedure to extract the effective fracture energy is developed. • The effective fracture energy is approximately balanced by the edge energy influx. • Yet, important deviations of frictional rupture from ordinary fracture emerge. The failure of frictional interfaces — the process of frictional rupture — is widely assumed to feature crack-like properties, with far-reaching implications for various disciplines, ranging from engineering tribology to earthquake physics. An important condition for the emergence of a crack-like behavior is the existence of stress drops in frictional rupture, whose basic physical origin has been recently elucidated. Here we show that for generic and realistic frictional constitutive relations, and once the necessary conditions for the emergence of an effective crack-like behavior are met, frictional rupture dynamics are approximately described by a crack-like, fracture mechanics energy balance equation. This is achieved by independently calculating the intensity of the crack-like singularity along with its associated elastic energy flux into the rupture edge region, and the frictional dissipation in the edge region. We further show that while the fracture mechanics energy balance equation provides an approximate, yet quantitative, description of frictional rupture dynamics, interesting deviations from the ordinary crack-like framework — associated with non-edge-localized dissipation — exist. Together with the recent results about the emergence of stress drops in frictional rupture, this work offers a comprehensive and basic understanding of why, how and to what extent frictional rupture might be viewed as an ordinary fracture process. Various implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]