Thermal shock driven fracture in a structured solid: dynamic crack growth and nucleation

In this paper we analyse the propagation of an edge crack into a thermoelastic lattice. The propagation within the micro-structured medium is driven by a periodic thermal shock acting on the boundary of the structure. A non standard numerical simulation has been developed which automatically computes the transient crack advance, embedding into the analysis thermal and inertial effects together with the non-linear evolution of the micro-structure. Velocity of propagation is considered for different critical elongation of the elastic ligaments within the lattice and the results are found to be in agreement with previous analytical predictions based on the dispersion properties of the lattice. Nucleation and coalescence are also detailed.