Author(s)

S. Shimamura

Abstract

Spreading of localised damage is studied by means of computer simulations for a cubic lattice system. Crack growth is modelled as a process of energy dissipation and energy transfer among cubes in the system. We prepare sys- tems of different energy distributions among cubes, supply a large energy to one cube on the system surface, and pursue the evolution of cracks initi- ated by this local energy supply. It is shown that there is a critical energy per cube above which a local energy supply causes drastic crack extension leading to severe damage spreading. Different patterns of damage spreading are disscussed in terms of energy dissipation. 1 Introduction A conventional approach to damage evaluation in a material is a stress-strain analysis based on fracture mechanics. This approach has been successful in predicting crack

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