Damage and Crack Propagation at a Microstructural Scale

Abstract

AbstractA quantitative analysis of the morphology of damage cavities in metallic materials is performed. At larger length scales, the self-affine correlation length of fracture surfaces is shown to be correlated to the grain size. These observations suggest a new scenario for the origin of scaling laws observed on fracture surfaces. It is argued that they reflect strong correlations in damage created prior to fracture during crack propagation.