Avalanches in Breakdown and Fracture Processes

Details Avalanches in Breakdown and Fracture Processes Avalanches in Breakdown and Fracture Processes

1999-01-18

arxiv.org/abs/cond-mat/9901171v2

Physics

Condensed Matter

Statistical Mechanics

15 pages, 12 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. E, corrected typo in authors name, no changes to the paper

Scientific paper

10.1103/PhysRevE.59.5049

We investigate the breakdown of disordered networks under the action of an increasing external---mechanical or electrical---force. We perform a mean-field analysis and estimate scaling exponents for the approach to the instability. By simulating two-dimensional models of electric breakdown and fracture we observe that the breakdown is preceded by avalanche events. The avalanches can be described by scaling laws, and the estimated values of the exponents are consistent with those found in mean-field theory. The breakdown point is characterized by a discontinuity in the macroscopic properties of the material, such as conductivity or elasticity, indicative of a first order transition. The scaling laws suggest an analogy with the behavior expected in spinodal nucleation.

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