Zhigang Suo's blog

Professor Nicolas Triantafyllidis, of Ecole Polytechnique and the University of Michigan, is selected to receive the 2010 Warner T. Koiter Medal.

Professor Rohan Abeyaratne, of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is selected to receive the 2010 Daniel C. Drucker Medal.

These notes belong to a course on fracture mechanics

A body consists of two materials bonded at an interface. On the interface there is a crack. The body is subject to a load, causing the two faces of the crack to open and slide relative to each other. When the load reaches a critical level, the crack either extends along the interface, or kinks out of the interface.

These notes belong to a course on fracture mechanics

A crack pre-exists in a body. When the body is loaded, the two faces of the crack may simultaneously open and slide relative to each other. The crack is said to be under a mixed-mode condition. When the load reaches a critical level, the crack starts to grow, and usually kinks into a new direction. Subsequently the crack often grows along a curved path.

These notes belong to a course on fracture mechanics

Lecture 1 introduced the crack bridging model. The model is also known as the cohesive-zone model, the Barenblatt model, or the Dugdale model. The model consists of two main ingredients:

These notes belong to a course on fracture mechanics

Following Griffith (1921), we distinguish two processes: deformation in the body and separation of the body. Up to this point, the process of deformation has been described by field theories of various kinds, such as

These notes belong to a course on fracture mechanics

Lecture 1 described the Begley-Landes experiment, and the blunting of a crack due to large deformation. Lecture 2 is motivated by the following considerations.