Role of the sample thickness in planar crack propagation.

We study the effect of the sample thickness in planar crack front propagation in a disordered elastic medium using the random fuse model. We employ different loading conditions and we test their stability with respect to crack growth. We show that the thickness induces characteristic lengths in the stress enhancement factor in front of the crack and in the stress transfer function parallel to the crack. This is reflected by a thickness-dependent crossover scale in the crack front morphology that goes from from multiscaling to self-affine with exponents, in agreement with line depinning models and experiments. Finally, we compute the distribution of crack avalanches, which is shown to depend on the thickness and the loading mode.

Fracture strength of disordered media: universality, interactions, and tail asymptotics.

We study the asymptotic properties of fracture strength distributions of disordered elastic media by a combination of renormalization group, extreme value theory, and numerical simulation. We investigate the validity of the "weakest-link hypothesis" in the presence of realistic long-ranged interactions in the random fuse model. Numerical simulations indicate that the fracture strength is well-described by the Duxbury-Leath-Beale (DLB) distribution which is shown to flow asymptotically to the Gumbel distribution. We explore the relation between the extreme value distributions and the DLB-type asymptotic distributions and show that the universal extreme value forms may not be appropriate to describe the nonuniversal low-strength tail.

Fracture roughness in three-dimensional beam lattice systems.

We study the scaling of three-dimensional crack roughness using large-scale beam lattice systems. Our results for prenotched samples indicate that the crack surface is statistically isotropic, with the implication that experimental findings of anisotropy of fracture surface roughness in directions parallel and perpendicular to crack propagation is not due to the scalar or vectorial elasticity of the model. In contrast to scalar fuse lattices, beam lattice systems do not exhibit anomalous scaling or an extra dependence of roughness on system size. The local and global roughness exponents (ζ(loc) and ζ, respectively) are equal to each other, and the three-dimensional crack roughness exponent is estimated to be ζ(loc)=ζ=0.48±0.03 . This closely matches the roughness exponent observed outside the fracture process zone. The probability density distribution p[Δh(ℓ)] of the height differences Δh(ℓ)=[h(x+ℓ)-h(x)] of the crack profile follows a Gaussian distribution, in agreement with experimental results.

Scaling of surface roughness in perfectly plastic disordered media.

This paper investigates surface roughness characteristics of localized plastic yield surface in a perfectly plastic disordered material. We model the plastic disordered material using perfectly plastic random spring model. Our results indicate that plasticity in a disordered material evolves in a diffusive manner until macroscopic yielding, which is in contrast to the localized failure observed in brittle fracture of disordered materials. On the other hand, the height-height fluctuations of the plastic yield surfaces generated by the spring model exhibit roughness exponents similar to those obtained in the brittle fracture of disordered materials, albeit anomalous scaling of plastic surface roughness is not observed. The local and global roughness exponents (ζ(loc) and ζ, respectively) are equal to each other, and the two-dimensional crack roughness exponent is estimated to be ζ(loc)=ζ=0.67±0.03. The probability density distribution p[Δh(ℓ)] of the height differences Δh(ℓ)=[h(x+ℓ)-h(x)] of the crack profile follows a Gaussian distribution.

A fast and efficient algorithm for Slater determinant updates in quantum Monte Carlo simulations.

We present an efficient low-rank updating algorithm for updating the trial wave functions used in quantum Monte Carlo (QMC) simulations. The algorithm is based on low-rank updating of the Slater determinants. In particular, the computational complexity of the algorithm is O(kN) during the kth step compared to traditional algorithms that require O(N(2)) computations, where N is the system size. For single determinant trial wave functions the new algorithm is faster than the traditional O(N(2)) Sherman-Morrison algorithm for up to O(N) updates. For multideterminant configuration-interaction-type trial wave functions of M+1 determinants, the new algorithm is significantly more efficient, saving both O(MN(2)) work and O(MN(2)) storage. The algorithm enables more accurate and significantly more efficient QMC calculations using configuration-interaction-type wave functions.

Crack roughness in the two-dimensional random threshold beam model.

We study the scaling of two-dimensional crack roughness using large scale beam lattice systems. Our results indicate that the crack roughness obtained using beam lattice systems does not exhibit anomalous scaling in sharp contrast to the simulation results obtained using scalar fuse lattices. The local and global roughness exponents (zetaloc and zeta, respectively) are equal to each other, and the two-dimensional crack roughness exponent is estimated to be zetaloc = zeta = 0.64+/-0.02 . Removal of overhangs (jumps) in the crack profiles eliminates even the minute differences between the local and global roughness exponents. Furthermore, removing these jumps in the crack profile completely eliminates the multiscaling observed in other studies. We find that the probability density distribution p[Deltah(l)] of the height differences Deltah(l)=[h(x+l)-h(x)] of the crack profile obtained after removing the jumps in the profiles follows a Gaussian distribution even for small window sizes (l) .

Dynamic compound wavelet matrix method for multiphysics and multiscale problems.

The paper presents the dynamic compound wavelet method (dCWM) for modeling the time evolution of multiscale and/or multiphysics systems via an "active" coupling of different simulation methods applied at their characteristic spatial and temporal scales. Key to this "predictive" approach is the dynamic updating of information from the different methods in order to adaptively and accurately capture the temporal behavior of the modeled system with higher efficiency than the (nondynamic) "corrective" compound wavelet matrix method (CWM), upon which the proposed method is based. The system is simulated by a sequence of temporal increments where the CWM solution on each increment is used as the initial conditions for the next. The numerous advantages of the dCWM method such as increased accuracy and computational efficiency in addition to a less-constrained and a significantly better exploration of phase space are demonstrated through an application to a multiscale and multiphysics reaction-diffusion process in a one-dimensional system modeled using stochastic and deterministic methods addressing microscopic and macroscopic scales, respectively.

Role of disorder in the size scaling of material strength.

We study the sample-size dependence of the strength of disordered materials with a flaw, by numerical simulations of lattice models for fracture. We find a crossover between a regime controlled by the disorder and another controlled by stress concentrations, ruled by continuum fracture mechanics. The results are formulated in terms of a scaling law involving a statistical fracture process zone. Its existence and scaling properties are revealed only by sampling over many configurations of the disorder. The scaling law is in good agreement with experimental results obtained from notched paper samples.

Effect of disorder and notches on crack roughness.

We analyze the effect of disorder and notches on crack roughness in two dimensions. Our simulation results based on large system sizes and extensive statistical sampling indicate that the crack surface exhibits a universal local roughness of zeta(loc)=0.71 and is independent of the initial notch size and disorder in breaking thresholds. The global roughness exponent scales as zeta=0.87 and is also independent of material disorder. Furthermore, we note that the statistical distribution of crack profile height fluctuations is also independent of material disorder and is described by a Gaussian distribution, albeit deviations are observed in the tails.

Crack surface roughness in three-dimensional random fuse networks.

Using large system sizes with extensive statistical sampling, we analyze the scaling properties of crack roughness and damage profiles in the three-dimensional random fuse model. The analysis of damage profiles indicates that damage accumulates in a diffusive manner up to the peak load, and localization sets in abruptly at the peak load, starting from a uniform damage landscape. The global crack width scales as W approximately L(0.5) and is consistent with the scaling of localization length xi approximately L(0.5) used in the data collapse of damage profiles in the postpeak regime. This consistency between the global crack roughness exponent and the postpeak damage profile localization length supports the idea that the postpeak damage profile is predominantly due to the localization produced by the catastrophic failure, which at the same time results in the formation of the final crack. Finally, the crack width distributions can be collapsed for different system sizes and follow a log-normal distribution.

Crack-cluster distributions in the random fuse model.

Using large-scale numerical simulations and extensive sampling, we analyze the scaling properties of the crack-cluster distribution and the largest crack-cluster distribution at the peak load. The simulations are performed using both two-dimensional and three-dimensional random fuse models. The numerical results indicate that in contrast with the randomly diluted networks (percolation disorder), the crack-cluster distribution in the random fuse model at the peak load follows neither a power law nor an exponential distribution. The largest crack-cluster distribution at the peak load follows a lognormal distribution, and this is discussed in the context of whether there exists a relationship between the largest crack-cluster size distribution at peak load and the fracture strength distribution. Contrary to popular belief, we find that the fracture strength and the largest crack-cluster size at the peak load are uncorrelated. Indeed, quite often, the final spanning crack is formed not due to the propagation of the largest crack at the peak load, but instead due to coalescence of smaller cracks.

Statistical physics models for nacre fracture simulation.

Natural biological materials such as nacre (or mother-of-pearl), exhibit phenomenal fracture strength and toughness properties despite the brittle nature of their constituents. For example, nacre's work of fracture is three orders of magnitude greater than that of a single crystal of its constituent mineral. This study investigates the fracture properties of nacre using a simple discrete lattice model based on continuous damage random thresholds fuse network. The discrete lattice topology of the proposed model is based on nacre's unique brick and mortar microarchitecture, and the mechanical behavior of each of the bonds in the discrete lattice model is governed by the characteristic modular damage evolution of the organic matrix that includes the mineral bridges between the aragonite platelets. The analysis indicates that the excellent fracture properties of nacre are a result of their unique microarchitecture, repeated unfolding of protein molecules (modular damage evolution) in the organic polymer, and the presence of fiber bundle of mineral bridges between the aragonite platelets. The numerical results obtained using this simple discrete lattice model are in excellent agreement with the previously obtained experimental results, such as nacre's stiffness, tensile strength, and work of fracture.

Statistical properties of fracture in a random spring model.

Using large-scale numerical simulations, we analyze the statistical properties of fracture in the two-dimensional random spring model and compare it with its scalar counterpart: the random fuse model. We first consider the process of crack localization measuring the evolution of damage as the external load is raised. We find that, as in the fuse model, damage is initially uniform and localizes at peak load. Scaling laws for the damage density, fracture strength, and avalanche distributions follow with slight variations the behavior observed in the random fuse model. We thus conclude that scalar models provide a faithful representation of the fracture properties of disordered systems.

A continuous damage random thresholds model for simulating the fracture behavior of nacre.

This study investigates the fracture properties of nacre using a discrete lattice model based on continuous damage random threshold fuse network. The discrete lattice topology of the model is based on nacre's unique brick and mortar microarchitecture. The mechanical behavior of each of the bonds in the discrete lattice model is governed by the characteristic modular damage evolution of the organic matrix and the mineral bridges between the aragonite platelets. The numerical results obtained using this simple discrete lattice model are in very good agreement with the previously obtained experimental results, such as nacre's stiffness, tensile strength, and work of fracture. The analysis indicates that nacre's superior toughness is a direct consequence of ductility (maximum shear strain) of the organic matrix in terms of repeated unfolding of protein molecules, and its fracture strength is a result of its ordered brick and mortar architecture with significant overlap of the platelets, and shear strength of the organic matrix.

Crack roughness and avalanche precursors in the random fuse model.

We analyze the scaling of the crack roughness and of avalanche precursors in the two-dimensional random fuse model by numerical simulations, employing large system sizes and extensive sample averaging. We find that the crack roughness exhibits anomalous scaling, as recently observed in experiments. The roughness exponents (zeta, zeta(loc) ) and the global width distributions are found to be universal with respect to the lattice geometry. Failure is preceded by avalanche precursors whose distribution follows a power law up to a cutoff size. While the characteristic avalanche size scales as s(0) approximately L(D) , with a universal fractal dimension D , the distribution exponent tau differs slightly for triangular and diamond lattices and, in both cases, it is larger than the mean-field (fiber bundle) value tau=5/2 .