The role of nucleation and growth of microcracks in brittle solids under compression: A numerical study

摘要

Microcrack growth and nucleation in brittle microheterogeneous materials is studied by means of the two-dimensional sliding crack model. The problem is treated numerically using a boundary element method (BEM) to solve a singular integral equation for the dislocation density along the crack contour. The evolution of crack patterns is compared for uniaxial and biaxial compression.