Universality and hysteretic dynamics in rapid fracture.
Experiments in the dynamic fracture of brittle polyacrylamide gels show that a single-crack state undergoes a hysteretic transition to the microbranching instability with a characteristic activation time. Quantitative measurements also indicate that features such as crack front inertia, self-focusing of microbranches, and the appearance of front waves are universal attributes of dynamic fracture.
Livne
A
A
The Racah Institute of Physics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel.
Cohen
G
G
Fineberg
J
J