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Host: Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences
Homepage: http://www.newton.cam.ac.uk/programs/smmw03.html
Organizers: K Bhattacharya (Caltech), P Suquet (Marseille), JR Willis (Cambridge)
Description:
This Workshop forms a part of the programme Mathematical Developments in Solid Mechanics and Materials Science. The topic of fracture has long been of
concern for structural engineering, although significant advances have been made by mathematicians, materials scientists and physicists. Over the last few years,
physicists interested in nonlinear phenomena have returned to problems of crack propagation, and to the study of model problems in which cracks develop from the
breaking of bonds. Also, it is now possible to model the entire development of a crack, in a finite-element model of a continuum, even with inelastic effects (that is,
plasticity) allowed for. Damage mechanics is well developed at the phenomenological level, and can also be built into codes that predict fracture. The admission of
any model for microscopic processes introduces a length scale, and size effects may emerge. These are of practical importance as well as theoretical interest.
Mathematical theory based on variational methods is developing, at least for cracks in elastic media. However, many problems remain: there is no adequate theory
for the stability of a propagating crack, even in the framework of linear elasticity, at the present time. Interactions between macro- and micro-cracks require better
modelling. The development of (approximate) fractal structure has so far not been modelled mechanistically. Some hint of the influence of underlying lattice structure
has been demonstrated (it may apparently prevent steady-state propagation at low speed) but this is not fully worked out. It is intended to allow issues such as these
to be aired, by all interested parties. These will be motivated by concern for structural engineering, materials, seismology, and of course the underlying mathematics.
The Workshop will be structured so as to allow time for informal discussions between participants. A formal programme will be developed for the first week, but the second week will be arranged to allow as closely as possible for the special interests of participants.
Speakers: M Ben Amar (Paris), W J Drugan (Wisconsin), A B Movchan (Liverpool), A Braides (Rome), L B Freund (Brown), J R Rice (Harvard), E Ching (Hong Kong), G A Francfort (Paris), J R Willis (Cambridge), G Dal Maso (Trieste), J W Hutchinson (Harvard), W Yang (Beijing)
Date received: January 20, 1999
© 2008 Atlas Conferences Inc.