# gst: elastomers fail from the edge.

<< The performance of soft devices is limited by the fracture resistance of elastomers. (..) A key observation is that thicker elastomers can be significantly tougher than thinner ones. (AA) show that this surprising toughness enhancement in thick samples emerges from the 3D geometry of the fracture process. In contrast to the classical picture of a 2D crack, failure is driven by the growth of two separate “edge” cracks that nucleate early on at a sample’s sides. As loading is increased, these cracks propagate in towards the sample midplane. When they merge, samples reach their ultimate failure strength. In thicker samples, edge cracks need to propagate farther before meeting, resulting in increased sample toughness. (AA) demonstrate that edge-crack growth is controlled by the elastomer’s strain-stiffening properties. >>

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Nan Xue, Rong Long, Eric R. Dufresne, Robert W. Style. Elastomers Fail from the Edge. Phys. Rev. X 14, 011054. March 22, 2024. 

https://journals.aps.org/prx/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevX.14.011054

Also: elastic, crack, in https://www.inkgmr.net/kwrds.html 

Keywords: gst, elastic, crack, elastomers, fracture

# gst: compression and fracture of ordered and disordered droplet rafts

AA << simulate a two-dimensional array of droplets being compressed between two walls. The droplets are adhesive due to an attractive depletion force. As one wall moves toward the other, the droplet array is compressed and eventually induced to rearrange. The rearrangement occurs via a fracture, where depletion bonds are quickly broken between a subset of droplets. >>

<< For monodisperse, hexagonally ordered droplet arrays, this fracture is preceded by a maximum force exerted on the walls, which drops rapidly after the fracture occurs. >>

<< In small droplet arrays a fracture is a single well-defined event, but for larger droplet arrays, competing fractures can be observed. These are fractures nucleated nearly simultaneously in different locations. >>

AA << also study the compression of bidisperse droplet arrays. The addition of a second droplet size further disrupts fracture events, showing differences between ideal crystalline arrays, crystalline arrays with a small number of defects, and fully amorphous arrays. >>

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Pablo Eduardo Illing, Jean-Christophe Ono-dit-Biot, et al. Compression and fracture of ordered and disordered droplet rafts. Phys. Rev. E 109, 014610. Jan 17, 2024.

https://journals.aps.org/pre/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevE.109.014610

Also: drop, defect, fracture, crack, in https://www.inkgmr.net/kwrds.html

Also:  raft   https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=raft  

zattera (quasi-stochastic poetry) https://inkpi.blogspot.com/2005/04/1864-onda-di-liberazione.html  

randa (quasi-stochastic poetry) https://inkpi.blogspot.com/search?q=randa

Keywords: gst, drop, droplet, raft, defect, fracture, crack

# gst: when science meets poetry, an image of three-dimensional stepped cracks (bistability, and their transition to simple cracks)

<< Slow cracks may be simple, with no internal structure. The leading edge of a simple crack, the crack front, forms a single fracture plane in its wake. Slow cracks may also develop segmented crack fronts, each segment propagating along a separate fracture plane. These planes merge at locations that form steps along fracture surfaces. Steps are not stationary, but instead propagate within a crack front. Real-time measurements of crack front structure and energy flux reveal that step dynamics significantly increase energy dissipation and drastically alter crack dynamics. Simple and stepped cracks are each stable. By extending the use of energy balance to include 3D crack front structure, (AA) find that, while energy balance is obeyed, it is insufficient to select the energetically favorable crack growth mode. Transitions from stepped cracks to simple cracks occur only when their in-plane front lengths become equal and a perturbation momentarily changes step topology. Such 3D crack dynamics challenge our traditional understanding of fracture. >>

Meng Wang, Mokhtar Adda-Bedia, Jay Fineberg. Dynamics of three-dimensional stepped cracks, bistability, and their transition to simple cracks. Phys. Rev. Research 5, L012001. Jan 9, 2023. 

https://journals.aps.org/prresearch/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.5.L012001

Also

keyword 'crack' in FonT

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=crack

keyword 'rottura' | 'crepa' | 'frattura' | 'rugosa' in Notes

(quasi-stochastic poetry)

https://inkpi.blogspot.com/search?q=rottura

https://inkpi.blogspot.com/search?q=crepa

https://inkpi.blogspot.com/search?q=frattura

https://inkpi.blogspot.com/search?q=rugosa

keywords 'meets poetry' in FonT

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=meets+poetry

Keywords:  gst, transitions, dynamical phase transitions, crack, cracking,   fracture, roughness

# gst: an atomic imaging of a (slow) crack

AA << successfully imaged the snapping of individual atomic bonds in a one-atom-thick sheet of rhenium disulfide ( ReS2) using scanning transmission electron microscopy. (STEM) >>

<< Because of its unusual chemistry, Re forms a 2D lattice with "lanes" that guide cracks, allowing the cracks to propagate with ease. The heavy element also efficiently deflects electrons, providing the signal needed to gain clear images. The study is a remarkable example of how a specific material can provide insight into the universal behavior of matter. >>

<< Because of its strong scattering, ReS2 provides an ideal target for STEM. (Interestingly, tungsten, the periodic-table neighbor of Re, has just one fewer proton and is routinely used in electron microscopy to stain viruses and bacterial flagella.)  >>

<< By measuring the deformation of the lattice around the crack, the team showed that the tearing stresses were concentrated around the crack tip. The stresses then decayed as the inverse square root of the distance from the tip, a finding that matches predictions for macroscopic materials. Using these measurements, the team defined a stress intensity threshold for cracks to propagate. >>

<< The images taken by Huang and colleagues used seconds-long exposure times, meaning they could only follow the propagation of the slowest crack (those that moved at a few angstroms per second). There is much interest in how faster cracks behave, as these cracks are subject to instabilities, meaning they can deviate from a straight line or form branches, for example. To observe faster cracks, future experiments could use reduced exposure times. >>

Itamar Kolvin. Atomic Imaging of Cracks. Physics 13, 193. Dec 9, 2020. 

https://physics.aps.org/articles/v13/193

Lingli Huang, Fangyuan Zheng, et al. In Situ Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy Observations of Fracture at the Atomic Scale. Phys. Rev. Lett. 125, 246102. Dec 9, 2020.

https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.246102

Also

(+)  the intriguing dynamics of a crack. Nov 7, 2017. 

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/2017/11/gst-intriguing-dynamics-of-crack.html

(+) multiple cracks, simultaneously ... Oct 23, 2016.

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/2016/10/s-gst-multiple-cracks-simultaneously.html

(+) onda criptica. May 22, 2005 (quasi-stochastic poetry)

https://inkpi.blogspot.com/2005/05/1641b-onda-criptica.html

(+) keyword "fracture" in FonT

https://flashontrack.blogspot.com/search?q=fracture