Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 24, 2025
06:15
Performing Microscope-Mounted Y-Shaped Cutting Tests
Published on: January 20, 2023
3.8K
Extreme cavity expansion in soft solids: Damage without fracture
Jin Young Kim1, Zezhou Liu2, Byung Mook Weon1
1School of Advanced Materials Science and Engineering, SKKU Advanced Institute of Nanotechnology (SAINT), Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 16419, South Korea.
Science Advances
|April 8, 2020
Summary
Cavitation in soft solids expands uniformly, unlike brittle fracture. This study reveals ductile-like behavior in elastomers, crucial for understanding material failure.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Mechanics of Soft Solids
- Polymer Physics
Background:
- Cavitation is a prevalent damage mechanism in soft solids, leading to material failure.
- Understanding the early stages of cavity formation and growth is critical for predicting material behavior.
- Elastomers are often perceived as brittle, but their failure mechanisms require deeper investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically investigate the early-stage expansion of cavities in stretched elastic solids.
- To explore the scale-free growth and driving pressure characteristics of cavitation.
- To compare the failure mechanisms of soft solids with those of ductile metals.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a phase separation technique to controllably nucleate and grow cavities in stretched elastic solids.
- Enabled the creation of stable cavities across a wide range of sizes and accessible strains.
- Systematically studied the early stages of cavity expansion under controlled conditions.
Main Results:
- Observed scale-free cavity growth, indicating a consistent expansion mechanism.
- Identified irreversible bond breakage distributed around the cavity, not localized at a crack tip.
- Found that cavities grow at a constant driving pressure, analogous to plasticity in metals.
Conclusions:
- Small-scale cavity expansion in elastomers exhibits ductile-like characteristics, challenging the perception of brittleness.
- The findings provide a new perspective on failure mechanisms in soft solids.
- Results have significant implications for controlling and understanding material failure in soft materials.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
01:21Plastic Behavior
459
A material's elastic behavior is characterized by the disappearance of stress once the load is removed, allowing the material to return to its original state. However, when stress surpasses the yield point, yielding commences, marking the onset of plastic deformation or permanent set. This change from elastic to plastic behavior is influenced by the peak stress value and the duration before the load is removed. An intriguing observation occurs when a specimen is loaded, unloaded, and...
459
01:19Plastic Deformations
357
Plastic deformation represents a fundamental concept in materials science, which explains the irreversible change in the shape of a material when it experiences stress beyond its elastic capability. This phenomenon is important in structural engineering, especially in designing and analyzing cantilever beams—structures that are securely fixed at one end and bear loads at the opposite end. When these beams are subjected to loads within their elastic range, they will return to their...
357
01:14Plastic Deformations
345
It is essential to understand how structural members behave under plastic deformation when the bending stress exceeds the material's yield strength. This state of deformation permanently alters the shape of the member, in contrast to the linear elastic behavior observed before yielding. The strain at any point in the member is expressed in terms of maximum strain. Notably, the neutral axis, which coincides with the centroid during elastic bending, shifts away from the centroid under plastic...
345
01:20Normal Strain under Axial Loading
1.0K
Normal strain under axial loading is an important concept in the field of mechanics of materials. Axial loading implies the application of a force along the axis of a material, like a column or bar. This force can either compress or stretch the material. In the context of axial loading, normal strain is the deformation experienced by the material in the direction of the loading force. It's calculated as the change in length divided by the original length of the material. This unitless ratio...
1.0K
01:15Relation between Poisson's ratio, Modulus of Elasticity and Modulus of Rigidity
470
Deformation occurs in axial and transverse directions when an axial load is applied to a slender bar. This deformation impacts the cubic element within the bar, transforming it into either a rectangular parallelepiped or a rhombus, contingent on its orientation. This transformation process induces shearing strain. Axial loading elicits both shearing and normal strains. Applying an axial load instigates equal normal and shearing stresses on elements oriented at a 45° angle to the load axis.
470
01:19Members Made of Elastoplastic Material
317
The behavior of elastoplastic materials under bending stresses, particularly in structural members with rectangular cross-sections, is crucial for predicting material responses and understanding failure modes. Initially, when a bending moment is applied, the stress distribution across the section follows Hooke's Law and is linear and elastic. This distribution means the stress increases from the neutral axis to the maximum at the outer fibers, up to the elastic limit.
As the bending moment...
As the bending moment...
317