ON THE MULTIFRACTAL CHARACTER OF LOAD DISTRIBUTION NEAR THE CRACKS

The character of load distribution near cracks under the stochastic br ittle-fracture evolution is studied by numerical simulation of 2D-prob lems with account for the damage accumulation and its interaction with macroscopic discontinuities. The load redistribution process is shown to be analogous to the random multiplicative cascade thus resulting i n the multifractal character of a load distribution near the growing c racks. The type of material's stochasticity affects both the morpholog y of the fractures (their fractal dimension) and the f(alpha)-dependen ce.