Crack initiation and growth:
methods, applications, and challenges.
A. Salvadori, University of Brescia, Italy,
[email protected]
K. Ravi-Chandar, The University of Texas at Austin, USA,
[email protected]
D. Warner, Cornell University, USA
[email protected]
(Mechanics of Solids and Structures)
Our understanding of fracture phenomena both in nature and technology has continued to grow thanks to novel advancements in theoretical and numerical modeling. However, there are many aspects of fracture phenomena that are not yet comprehensively understood such as, e.g. crack initiation, crack path tracking, the transition from damage localization to fracture, environmental effects, and the role of material interfaces. Improving our understanding of these aspects of the fracture process is crucial to developing more predictive fracture models, which ultimately will advance the analysis and design of many next generation technologies. This mini symposium welcomes contributions within this broad theme.