Esc. Ching, DYNAMIC STRESSES AT A MOVING CRACK-TIP IN A MODEL OF FRACTURE PROPAGATION, Physical review. E, Statistical physics, plasmas, fluids, and related interdisciplinary topics, 49(4), 1994, pp. 3382-3388
The steady-state propagation of a mode I crack in a laterally strained
strip is examined. The displacement field satisfies the usual equatio
n of motion for an isotropic two-dimensional elastic medium while the
tractions on the fracture surface include a viscous dissipative term r
ecently introduced by J. S. Langer and H. Nakanishi [Phys. Rev. E 48,
439 (1993)]. The stress field at the crack tip is calculated and found
to change qualitatively as the crack speed increases beyond a certain
critical value. Such a dynamical modification of the crack tip stress
field has an interesting indication that steady-state crack propagati
on above the critical speed may be unstable.