title: Brittle Fracture Theory Predicts the Equation of Motion of Frictional Rupture Fronts.
abstract: We study rupture fronts propagating along the interface separating two bodies at the onset of frictional motion via high-temporal-resolution measurements of the real contact area and strain fields. The strain measurements provide the energy flux and dissipation at the rupture tips. We show that the classical equation of motion for brittle shear cracks, derived by balancing these quantities, well describes the velocity evolution of frictional ruptures. Our results demonstrate the extensive applicability of the dynamic brittle fracture theory to friction.
authors.affiliation: The Racah Institute of Physics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel.
authors.forename: Ilya
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Svetlizky
authors.affiliation: School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
authors.forename: David S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Kammer
authors.affiliation: The Racah Institute of Physics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel.
authors.forename: Elsa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bayart
authors.affiliation: The Racah Institute of Physics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel.
authors.forename: Gil
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.affiliation: The Racah Institute of Physics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel.
authors.forename: Jay
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fineberg