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Updated: Mar 30, 2026

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Published on: June 28, 2015
Popping Balloons: A Case Study of Dynamical Fragmentation
Sébastien Moulinet1, Mokhtar Adda-Bedia1
1Laboratoire de Physique Statistique, Ecole Normale Supérieure, UPMC Paris 6, Université Paris Diderot, CNRS, 24 rue Lhomond, 75005 Paris, France.
Researchers studied rubber membrane bursting to understand fragmentation physics. A dynamic instability causes treelike crack networks, crucial for industrial and geophysical applications.
Area of Science:
- Physics
- Materials Science
- Geophysics
Background:
- Fragmentation is critical in industrial and geophysical processes.
- These processes involve high strain rates and short timescales during crack propagation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To experimentally analyze the physics of fragmentation in situ.
- To understand the mechanisms behind crack network formation during material failure.
Main Methods:
- Utilized bursting of highly stretched rubber membranes for analysis.
- Employed in situ time and space tracking of the fragmentation process.
Main Results:
- Observed treelike fragmentation networks originating from a single crack.
- Identified successive crack tip-splitting events driven by dynamic instability.
- Determined fragmentation occurs at a critical crack tip velocity.
Conclusions:
- The study reveals a dynamic instability driving branching in fragmentation.
- The findings provide a framework applicable to crack networks in brittle materials.
- Understanding fragmentation physics has broad industrial and geophysical relevance.
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