Creep ruptures in heterogeneous materials

We present creep experiments on fiber composite materials with different controlled heterogeneity. All samples exhibit a power-law relaxation of the strain rate in the primary creep regime (Andrade's law) followed by a power-law acceleration up to rupture. We discover that the rupture time is p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Physical review letters Vol. 94; no. 4; p. 045501
Main Authors:	Nechad, H, Helmstetter, A, El Guerjouma, R, Sornette, D
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	United States American Physical Society 04-02-2005
Subjects:	Engineering Sciences Materials
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	We present creep experiments on fiber composite materials with different controlled heterogeneity. All samples exhibit a power-law relaxation of the strain rate in the primary creep regime (Andrade's law) followed by a power-law acceleration up to rupture. We discover that the rupture time is proportional to the duration of the primary creep regime, showing the interplay between the two regimes and offering a method of rupture prediction. These experimental results are rationalized by a mean-field model of representative elements with nonlinear viscoelastic rheology and with a large heterogeneity of strengths.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0031-9007 1079-7114
DOI:	10.1103/PhysRevLett.94.045501