Presidential Young Investigator Award: Quasi-Static and Dynamic Fracture of Ductile Solids

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This research investigates the physical processes involved in the quasistatic and dynamic fracture of ductile solids, primarily structural steels. Specifically, the effects of inertia, plasticity, and rate sensitivity will be studied through experiments and analytical modeling. The strong effect of plasticity and dynamic loading, and their interaction, makes such problems particularly important in the establishment of the necessary design procedures to be used to avoid failure by fracture. Analytical models will be developed for crack initiation and growth in highly ductile solids, and predictions of these models will be compared with experimental observations. The research also involves the development of optical techniques to provide direct information about the structure of the near-crack tip strain and displacement fields.