Cavitation
Introduction to the unique attributes of fracture in soft materials.
In out introduction to fracture, we have reviewed the definition of fracture energy $\Gamma$. Recall the definition of the energy release rate:
The study of fracture is the study of failure of materials. We want to 1. determine the loads at which a material fail 2. Predict this from the material structure. For example: 1. use a measured force at which a metal beam snaps to predict at which pressure it will explode if used as a pipe, 2. if we know what the metal is composed of and how it was processed, can we predict the force?