Record statistics of fracture in the random spring network model.

We study the role of record statistics of damage avalanches in predicting the fracture of a heterogeneous material under tensile loading. The material is modeled using a two-dimensional random spring network where disorder is introduced through randomness in the breakage threshold strains of the springs. It is shown that the waiting strain interval between successive records of avalanches has a maximum for moderate disorder, thus showing an acceleration in occurrence of records when approaching final fracture.

Role of composition in fracture behavior of two-phase solids.

In a two-phase solid, we examine the growth of a preexisting macroscopic crack based on simulations of a random spring network model. We find that the enhancement in toughness, as well as strength, is strongly dependent on the ratio of elastic moduli as well as on the relative proportion of the phases. We find that the mechanism that leads to enhancement in toughness is not the same as that for enhancement in strength; however, the overall enhancement is similar in mode I and mixed-mode loading.