%0 Journal Article %J {MATHEMATICAL MODELS & METHODS IN APPLIED SCIENCES} %D 2011 %T A MODEL FOR CRACK PROPAGATION BASED ON VISCOUS APPROXIMATION %A Giuliano Lazzaroni %A Rodica Toader %K Brittle fracture %K Crack propagation %K energy derivative %K energy release rate %K free-discontinuity problems %K Griffith's criterion %K local minimizers %K stress intensity factor} %K vanishing viscosity %K {Variational models %X

{In the setting of antiplane linearized elasticity, we show the existence of quasistatic evolutions of cracks in brittle materials by using a vanishing viscosity approach, thus taking into account local minimization. The main feature of our model is that the path followed by the crack need not be prescribed a priori: indeed, it is found as the limit (in the sense of Hausdorff convergence) of curves obtained by an incremental procedure. The result is based on a continuity property for the energy release rate in a suitable class of admissible cracks.}

%B {MATHEMATICAL MODELS & METHODS IN APPLIED SCIENCES} %I {WORLD SCIENTIFIC PUBL CO PTE LTD} %C {5 TOH TUCK LINK, SINGAPORE 596224, SINGAPORE} %V {21} %P {2019-2047} %8 {OCT} %G eng %9 {Article} %R {10.1142/S0218202511005647}