Year: 2009
Type: article
Abstract: Volume alteration in solid materials is a common cause of material failure. Here we investigate the crack formation in thin elastic layers attached to a substrate. We show that small variations in the volume contraction and substrate restraint can produce widely different crack patterns ranging from spirals to complex hierarchical networks. The networks are formed when there is no prevailing gradient in material contraction, whereas spirals are formed in the presence of a radial gradient in the contraction of a thin elastic layer.
Source: Physical Review E
Institutions: Weizmann Institute of Science, University of Oslo
Language: English
Subfield: Mechanical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2070926295