Fractographic mirror law for brittle fracture of nonlinear elastic soft materials

Abstract

Mirror radius analysis of fractured surfaces is a powerful fractographic method for determining the cause of failure in linear elastic hard materials because it does not require prior loading information. However, mirror analysis for soft materials is lacking. In this study, we established a general mirror radius law for nonlinear elastic soft materials using highly deformable brittle hydrogels. The fracture stress and mirror radius follow a −1 power law, which differs from the −0.5 power law for linear elastic hard materials. The constant in the power law is related to the fracture energy of the material. This discovery provides insights into fracture mechanisms and leads the way for applying fractography to soft materials.