Dynamic Fracture Behavior of Brittle Materials: Microdefects, Crack Propagation, and Fragmentation under Impact Loading

Esmira Mustafayeva(1), Matanat Ismayilzada(2), Elmar Sultanov(3), Wieslaw Brodaczewski(4), Jawdat Goussous(5),


(1) Azerbaijan State University of Economics
(2) Azerbaijan State University of Economics
(3) Azerbaijan State University of Economics
(4) Grena Limited
(5) University of Jordan
Corresponding Author

Abstract


Brittle materials are widely used in structural, protective, and aerospace applications but are highly susceptible to rapid fracture under impact loading and high-speed deformation. This study examined glass, ceramics, concrete, borosilicate glass, and polycrystalline diamond, focusing on microdefects, crack propagation, dynamic strengthening, energy localization, and fragmentation. Fracture was mainly initiated at pores, inclusions, microcracks, and other structural heterogeneities acting as stress concentrators. Increasing loading intensity and strain rate accelerated crack growth and fragmentation, while dynamic strengthening and quasi-brittle behavior could emerge under high-rate conditions. Theoretical analysis using dynamic fracture mechanics, energy criteria, statistical defect models, and fragmentation models showed that fracture behavior depends on microstructure, loading rate, crack velocity, and impact energy, providing a basis for predicting failure under extreme conditions.

Keywords


Brittle materials; Crack propagation; Dynamic fracture; Fragmentation; High-speed deformation

References


Nandiyanto, A. B. D., Triawan, F., Firly, R., Abdullah, A. G., Aono, Y., Inaba, K., and Kishimoto, K. (2019). Identification of micro-mechanical characteristics of monoclinic tungsten trioxide microparticles by nanoindentation technique. Materials Physics and Mechanics, 42(3), 323-329.

Mustafa, W. S., Nagy, B., and Szendefy, J. (2022). Impact of compaction ratio and loading period on compressional behavior of foam glass aggregates. Construction and Building Materials, 343, 128111.

Liu, X., Zheng, S., Fang, L., Xiao, L., Guo, L., Feng, H., Zhu, W., Xiong, Z., and Gao, Z. (2025). Exceptionally prolonged plastic strain in a severely deformed martensitic hardening high-strength steel under dynamic compression. Materials Science and Engineering: A, 922, 147661.

Yang, S., Ning, J., and Xu, X. (2023). Fragment theoretical model of concrete blocks subjected to blast loads. International Journal of Impact Engineering, 176, 104562.

Heinzlmeier, L., Sieberer, S., Wolfsgruber, T., Kralovec, C., and Schagerl, M. (2023). Damage propagation and residual strength of simple block-loaded CFRP plates with circular holes under tension-tension fatigue conditions. Journal of Composites Science, 7(9), 379.

Hu, W., Zheng, Y., McSaveney, M., Xu, Q., Huang, R., and Zhou, L. (2023). Evolution of the strain localization and shear-zone internal structure in the granular material: Insights from ring-shear experiments. Engineering Geology, 325, 107283.

Qin, Y., Xu, N., Han, J., and Zhou, W. (2023). Experimental study on the effects of geometric parameters of filled fractures on the mechanical properties and crack propagation mechanisms of rock masses. Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering, 56(4), 2697-2716.

Wu, L., Xu, Y., Huang, D., and Wang, L. (2021). Influences of temperature and impacting velocity on dynamic failure of laminated glass: Insights from peridynamic simulations. Composite Structures, 259, 113472.

Abdullah, T., and Kirane, K. (2021). Continuum damage modeling of dynamic crack velocity, branching, and energy dissipation in brittle materials. International Journal of Fracture, 229(1), 15-37.

Yang, T., Ma, H., Weng, L., Liu, Y., Chu, Z., Zhang, P., Jin, G., and Chang, W. (2022). Fragmentation analyses of rocks under high-velocity impacts using the combined finite-discrete element simulation. Frontiers in Earth Science, 10, 998521.

Li, Y., Wang, T., and Zhou, M. (2021). Impact response characteristics and meso-evolution mechanism of functionally gradient brittle materials with pore hole damage. Composite Structures, 256, 112989.

Zheng, Q. Q., Qian, J. W., Li, P. F., Yin, Z. Q., and Zhao, H. T. (2024). Dynamic energy evolution and fragmentation characteristics of damaged rock under impact compression loading. Applied Geophysics, 21(2), 232-245.

Li, Y., Wang, N., and Zhou, M. (2021). High speed crack propagation characteristics of functionally graded brittle materials under ultra-high loading rate. Thin-Walled Structures, 161, 107397.

Si, B., Li, Z., Yang, Y., Qiao, L., Liu, E., Xiao, G., and Shu, X. (2023). Dynamic indentation testing and characterization of metals based on the split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) device. Mechanics of Materials, 177, 104550.

Hatfield, J. E., and Davidson, J. S. (2022). Fragmentation and hazard analysis of brittle materials under far-field blast loading. Advances in Structural Engineering, 25(7), 1535-1548.

Ricco, P., de Carvalho Ramos, N., Campos, T. M., Soares, V. O., Boas, M., and de Melo, R. M. (2021). The roles of microstructure and surface energy on subcritical crack growth in glass-ceramics. Ceramics International, 47(5), 6827-6833.

Zhou, X. P., and Gu, S. Y. (2022). Dynamic mechanical properties and cracking behaviours of persistent fractured granite under impact loading with various loading rates. Theoretical and Applied Fracture Mechanics, 118, 103281.

Dutkiewicz, M., Hembara, O., Chepil, O., Hrynenko, M., and Hembara, T. (2023). A new energy approach to predicting fracture resistance in metals. Materials, 16(4), 1566.

Danzer, R., Lube, T., and Supancic, P. (2022). Monte Carlo simulations of strength distributions of brittle materials—Type of distribution, specimen and sample size. International Journal of Materials Research, 92(7), 773-783.

Feng, W., Liu, F., Yang, F., Jing, L., Li, L., Li, H., and Chen, L. (2021). Compressive behaviour and fragment size distribution model for failure mode prediction of rubber concrete under impact loads. Construction and Building Materials, 273, 121767.

Wu, H., Sun, P., Han, S., and Yu, L. (2023). Study on the breaking characteristics of glass-like brittle materials. Nonlinear Engineering, 12(1), 20220341.

Gomez, Q., and Ionescu, I. R. (2021). Micro-mechanical fracture dynamics and damage modelling in brittle materials. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A, 379(2196), 20200125.

Han, Z., Li, J., Wang, H., and Zhao, J. (2023). Initiation and propagation of a single internal 3D crack in brittle material under dynamic loads. Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 285, 109299.

Sun, X., Yao, P., Qu, S., Yu, S., Zhang, X., Wang, W., and Chu, D. (2022). Material properties and machining characteristics under high strain rate in ultra-precision and ultra-high-speed machining process: A review. International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology, 120(11), 7011-7042.

Feng, P., Cao, P., Li, J., Tang, R., and Li, H. (2024). Dynamic fracture mechanism and fragment characteristics of sandstone specimens with asymmetrical conjugate fissures under static pre-compression. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 21268.

Fan, L., Chitalu, F. M., and Komura, T. (2022). Simulating brittle fracture with material points. ACM Transactions on Graphics, 41(5), 177.

Liang, Y., Guo, C., Tian, F., and Lu, Z. (2025). Dynamic instability of coal rock burst in spatiotemporal multi-crack RVE model. International Journal for Multiscale Computational Engineering, 23(4), 69-94.

Sun, J., Liu, D., Huang, H., Cui, M., and Su, P. (2024). Experimental study on the failure characteristics and mechanism between spalling failure and rockburst. Engineering Failure Analysis, 165, 108817.

Nandiyanto, A. B. D., Triawan, F., Firly, R., and Kishimoto, K. (2021). Crystallite size on micromechanical characteristics of WO3 microparticles. Journal of Engineering Research, 9(3), 268-277.

Lyu, G. J., Qiao, J. C., Yao, Y., Wang, Y. J., Morthomas, J., Fusco, C., and Rodney, D. (2021). Microstructural effects on the dynamical relaxation of glasses and glass composites: A molecular dynamics study. Acta Materialia, 220, 117293.

Matsunaga, K., Yoshiya, M., Shibata, N., Ohta, H., and Mizoguchi, T. (2022). Ceramic science of crystal defect cores. Journal of the Ceramic Society of Japan, 130(8), 648-667.

Xiao, S., Qin, H., Zhang, W., Ren, Q., Xiao, J., Li, W., and Cheng, Y. (2023). On the concrete breakage by pulsed water jet impact: Fracture characteristic, stress and damage evolution laws. Case Studies in Construction Materials, 19, e02634.

Huang, J. Y., Yuan, J. C., Zhu, T. T., Zhong, T., Xu, Y. F., and Luo, S. N. (2022). Dynamic compressive strength of alumina ceramics. Ceramics International, 48(24), 36371-36382.

Wang, S., Peng, Y., Chen, X., and Wang, K. (2022). The crack propagation and dynamic impact responses of tempered laminated glass used in high-speed trains. Engineering Failure Analysis, 134, 106024.

Guo, Y., Meng, D., Cai, Z., and Yue, W. (2024). Dynamic response and damage behavior of impact wear for polycrystalline diamond compact under low kinetic energy impact. Carbon, 226, 119166.

Duplan, Y., and Forquin, P. (2021). Investigation of the multiple-fragmentation process and post-fragmentation behaviour of dense and nacre-like alumina ceramics by means of tandem impact experiments and tomographic analysis. International Journal of Impact Engineering, 155, 103891.

Zhang, C., Feng, C., Zhou, J., and Xue, K. (2025). Explosive fragmentation of brittle granular materials. Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 321, 111126.

Patnaik, S., and Semperlotti, F. (2021). Variable-order fracture mechanics and its application to dynamic fracture. npj Computational Materials, 7(1), 27.

Wessling, A., Larsson, S., Jonsén, P., and Kajberg, J. (2022). A statistical DEM approach for modelling heterogeneous brittle materials. Computational Particle Mechanics, 9(4), 615-631.


Full Text: PDF

Article Metrics

Abstract View : 0 times
PDF Download : 0 times

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Copyright (c) 2026 Bumi Publikasi Nusantara

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.