A macroscopic theory of microcrack growth in brittle materials (Q3977947)

General rules concerning macroscopic effects due to microcracks growth were generated for brittle materials. The theory introduces two characteristic quantities: the vector-valued variable \(\bar d\), which is the composition of the inverse of the adjugate of the deformation gradient, and the scalar-valued variable representing the crack density \(n\). The rational mechanics approach leads to constitutive equations and to the following condition for initiation of microcracking: \(\|\dot{\overline d}\|\geq 0\) or \(\bar d\cdot\bar w\geq 0\), where \(\overline{\overline{d}}=\overline{w}\). The paper is addressed to theoreticians and its physical value is questionable.