title: Phase-field model of mode III dynamic fracture.
abstract: We introduce a phenomenological continuum model for the mode III dynamic fracture that is based on the phase-field methodology used extensively to model interfacial pattern formation. We couple a scalar field, which distinguishes between "broken" and "unbroken" states of the system, to the displacement field in a way that consistently includes both macroscopic elasticity and a simple rotationally invariant short-scale description of breaking. We report two-dimensional simulations that yield steady-state crack motion in a strip geometry above the Griffith threshold.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Karma
authors.forename: D A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Kessler
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Levine