Dynamic fracture regimes for initially prestressed elastic chains

We study the propagation of a bridge crack in an anisotropic multi-scale system involving two discrete elastic chains that are interconnected by links and possess periodically distributed inertia. The bridge crack is represented by the destruction of every other link between the two elastic chains, and this occurs with a uniform speed. This process is assumed to be sustained by energy provided to the system through its initial configuration, corresponding to the alternating application of compression and tension to neighbouring links. The solution, based on the Wiener–Hopf technique and presented in Ayzenberg-Stepanenko et al. (Ayzenberg-Stepanenko et al. 2014 Proc. R. Soc. A 470, 20140121 (doi:10.1098/rspa.2014.0121)) is used to compute the profile of the medium undergoing failure. We investigate when this solution, representing the steady failure process, is physically acceptable. It is shown that the analytical solution is not always physically applicable and can be used to determine the onset of non-steady failure regimes. These arise from the presence of critical deformations in the wake of the crack front at the sites of the intact links. Additionally, we demonstrate that the structural integrity of the discrete elastic chains can significantly alter the range of speeds for which the bridge crack can propagate steadily. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Wave generation and transmission in multi-scale complex media and structured metamaterials (part 2)’.