Hello! 

As a student who has spent a lot of time studying cohesive zone models in fracture mechanics, I have several questions that have bothered me over the past year or so, and I have not been able to find suitable answers to them. I am limiting myself here to questions related to the traction-separation law, which invariably forms the basis of CZM as it is implemented today. I am raising these questions in the hope that I can receive some response here, even if it means my question is invalid (as I suspect a few may be).  So here is my list:

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I created this one page poster for publicizing iMechanica, primarily in schools among students, where I think a lot of students are unaware of iMechanica. I hope I am not infringing on any copyright rules or negatively impacting iMechanica's image and sensitivities. Would it be okay to print this out and post it on notice boards in school? Also, please let me know if I can improve on the design or add/remove any components. I will resubmit the final version as a pdf for student volunteers to print (if it is acceptable).

Thanks for your time,
Dhruv 

Recently, Prof. Suo and several of us students have been discussing the possibility of increasing student presence and activity on iMechanica . With this in mind, two of us: Mahdi Kazemzadeh and I, have identified three important issues we would like to get your thoughts on. Please comment and let us know what you think, even if you are not a student. Also, if you wish to add any more issues you think we should look at, please post your thoughts in this regard as well.

Most fracture classes and texts focus on the following different approaches: Griffith's energy approach, Irwin's stress intensity factor approach, the Barenblatt-Dugdale strip yield model (and subsequently, cohesive zone modeling) and Rice's J-Integral approach. As a graduate student studying fracture mechanics, I have often wondered why there seems to be very little discussion in the community with regard to Sih's strain energy density approach. Are there any fundamental limitations to the approach or are there "other" reasons behind this? Your thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks,
Dhruv 

I had prepared this document for a class project, the level is introductory and the selection of models is motivated by solder deformation, but I hope it is of some help. I have examined four models, proposed by Hart, Anand, Krempl and Busso. The document has 16 pages.

Thanks,
Dhruv

PS: This is a wonderful website!!!