Simulation of Crack-Pattern Formation Caused by Shrinkage due to Drying

Abstract

When a wet materials dries up, cracks are generated due to the volumetric shrinkage, and curious complicated pattern is generated. The formation mechanism is difficult to completely understand because various factors are related, for example, the circumstantial conditions such as humidity and temperature, mechanical conditions as static or dynamic, and materials condition like the uniformity and homogeneity. The simulation of the crack-pattern formation is consequently not straightforward, and many kinds of difficulty is raised. In this study, therefore, we are trying to construct a simple and widely applicable simulation model for the phenomena. As a first step, the prototype was constructed, and the basic process was successfully regenerated. In this model, volumetric shrinkage generates a single crack and the crack progresses straightly to the boundary. This process occurs successively, and various patterns were obtained depending on the difference in the parameters corresponding to the drying condition.