University
of Toronto
Physics Department
JOINT QOCMP/NONLINEAR STUDY GROUP
MONDAY SEMINAR
University
of Toronto
| Speaker: | PROFESSOR L.C. KRYSAC
Department of Physics University of the Pacific 3601 Pacific Avenue |
|
| Topic : | DAMPING STRESS WAVE INDUCED FRACTURE WITH FERROFLUIDS | |
| Time : | Monday, January 3, 2000 at 12:10 p.m. | |
| Place : | Room 408, Burton Tower 60 St. George Street / 255 Huron Street |
Abstract
The complexity of the problem of brittle fracture might lead one to ask the question: if fracture is some kind of phase transition, how can an experimentalist make meaningful measurements? One answer might be to seek out those relevant microscopic properties which are measurable and controllable, and then to study how varying those properties affects macroscopic failure. Previous work studying the fracture of brittle carbon foam found a relationship between the propagation of stress waves, produced by individual bond breaking events, and the macroscopic failure of the sample. The effect of decreasing the magnitude of the stress waves, by acoustic damping mechanisms, on the measured fracture strength will be discussed. Comments will be made on the possible relevance of stress waves to the description of fracture as a phase transition.
Local Host: Prof. Stephen Morris 
(416-978-6810)