stretchable materials

Elastomers and gels can often deform multiple times their original length. The stretchability is insensitive to small cuts in the samples, but reduces markedly when the cuts are large. This work shows that this transition occurs when the depth of cut exceeds a material-specific length, defined by the ratio of the fracture energy measured in the large-cut limit and the work to rupture measured in the small-cut limit.  This conclusion generalizes a result in the fracture mechanics of hard materials.