Interacting damage models mapped onto Ising and percolation models

Prediction of depinning transitions in interface models using Gini and Kolkata indices

The intermittent dynamics of driven interfaces through disordered media and its subsequent depinning for large enough driving force is a common feature for a myriad of diverse systems, starting from mode-I fracture, vortex lines in superconductors, and magnetic domain walls to invading fluid in a porous medium, to name a few. In this work, we outline a framework that can give a precursory signal of the imminent depinning transition by monitoring the variations in sizes or the inequality of the intermittent responses of a system that are seen prior to the depinning point. In particular, we use measures traditionally used to quantify economic inequality, i.e., the Gini index and the Kolkata index, for the case of the unequal responses of precritical systems. The crossing point of these two indices serves as a precursor to imminent depinning. Given a scale-free size distribution of the responses, we calculate the expressions for these indices, evaluate their crossing points, and give a recipe for forecasting depinning transitions. We apply this method to the Edwards-Wilkinson, Kardar-Parisi-Zhang, and fiber bundle model interface with variable interaction strengths and quenched disorder. The results are applicable for any interface dynamics undergoing a depinning transition. The results also explain previously observed near-universal values of Gini and Kolkata indices in self-organized critical systems.

Rigidity-Controlled Crossover: From Spinodal to Critical Failure

Failure in disordered solids is accompanied by intermittent fluctuations extending over a broad range of scales. The implied scaling has been previously associated with either spinodal or critical points. We use an analytically transparent mean-field model to show that both analogies are relevant near the brittle-to-ductile transition. Our study indicates that in addition to the strength of quenched disorder, an appropriately chosen global measure of rigidity (connectivity) can be also used to tune the system to criticality. By interpreting rigidity as a timelike variable we reveal an intriguing parallel between earthquake-type critical failure and Burgers turbulence.

Type-dependent stochastic Ising model describing the dynamics of a non-symmetric feedback module

We study an alternative approach to model the dynamical behaviors of biological feedback loop, that is, a type-dependent spin system, this class of stochastic models was introduced by Fernández et. al [13], and are useful since take account to inherent variability of gene expression. We analyze a non-symmetric feedback module being an extension for the repressilator, the first synthetic biological oscillator, invented by Elowitz and Leibler [7]. We consider a mean-field dynamics for a type-dependent Ising model, and then study the empirical-magnetization vector representing concentration of molecules. We apply a convergence result from stochastic jump processes to deterministic trajectories and present a bifurcation analysis for the associated dynamical system. We show that non-symmetric module under study can exhibit very rich behaviours, including the empirical oscillations described by repressilator.

Nucleation phenomena in an annealed damage model: statistics of times to failure

In this paper we investigate the statistical behavior of an annealed continuous damage model. For different model variations we study distributions of times to failure and compare these results with the classical case of metastable nucleation in statistical physics. We show that our model has a tuning parameter, related to the degree of damage reversibility, that determines the model's behavior. Depending on the value of this parameter, our model exhibits statistical behavior either similar to classical reversible nucleation phenomena in statistical physics or to an absolutely different type of behavior intrinsic to systems with damage. This comparison allows us to investigate possible similarities and differences between damage phenomena and reversible nucleation.

Effect of disorder on temporal fluctuations in drying-induced cracking

We investigate by means of computer simulations the effect of structural disorder on the statistics of cracking for a thin layer of material under uniform and isotropic drying. For this purpose, the layer is discretized into a triangular lattice of springs with a slightly randomized arrangement. The drying process is captured by reducing the natural length of all springs by the same factor, and the amount of quenched disorder is controlled by varying the width ξ of the distribution of the random breaking thresholds for the springs. Once a spring breaks, the redistribution of the load may trigger an avalanche of breaks, not necessarily as part of the same crack. Our computer simulations revealed that the system exhibits a phase transition with the amount of disorder as control parameter: at low disorders, the breaking process is dominated by a macroscopic crack at the beginning, and the size distribution of the subsequent breaking avalanches shows an exponential form. At high disorders, the fracturing proceeds in small-sized avalanches with an exponential distribution, generating a large number of microcracks, which eventually merge and break the layer. Between both phases, a sharp transition occurs at a critical amount of disorder ξ(c)=0.40±0.01, where the avalanche size distribution becomes a power law with exponent τ=2.6±0.08, in agreement with the mean-field value τ=5/2 of the fiber bundle model. Moreover, good quality data collapses from the finite-size scaling analysis show that the average value of the largest burst ⟨Δ(max)⟩ can be identified as the order parameter, with β/ν=1.4 and 1/ν≃1.0, and that the average ratio ⟨m(2)/m(1)⟩ of the second m(2) and first moments m(1) of the avalanche size distribution shows similar behavior to the susceptibility of a continuous transition, with γ/ν=1, 1/ν≃0.9. These results suggest that the disorder-induced transition of the breakup of thin layers is analogous to a continuous phase transition.

Average crack-front velocity during subcritical fracture propagation in a heterogeneous medium

We study the average velocity of crack fronts during stable interfacial fracture experiments in a heterogeneous quasibrittle material under constant loading rates and during long relaxation tests. The transparency of the material (polymethylmethacrylate) allows continuous tracking of the front position and relation of its evolution to the energy release rate. Despite significant velocity fluctuations at local scales, we show that a model of independent thermally activated sites successfully reproduces the large-scale behavior of the crack front for several loading conditions.

Statistical model with two order parameters for ductile and soft fiber bundles in nanoscience and biomaterials

Traditional fiber bundles models (FBMs) have been an effective tool to understand brittle heterogeneous systems. However, fiber bundles in modern nano- and bioapplications demand a new generation of FBM capturing more complex deformation processes in addition to damage. In the context of loose bundle systems and with reference to time-independent plasticity and soft biomaterials, we formulate a generalized statistical model for ductile fracture and nonlinear elastic problems capable of handling more simultaneous deformation mechanisms by means of two order parameters (as opposed to one). As the first rational FBM for coupled damage problems, it may be the cornerstone for advanced statistical models of heterogeneous systems in nanoscience and materials design, especially to explore hierarchical and bio-inspired concepts in the arena of nanobiotechnology. Applicative examples are provided for illustrative purposes at last, discussing issues in inverse analysis (i.e., nonlinear elastic polymer fiber and ductile Cu submicron bars arrays) and direct design (i.e., strength prediction).

Mean-field theory of localization in a fuse model

We propose a mean-field theory for the localization of damage in a quasistatic fuse model on a cylinder. Depending on the quenched disorder distribution of the fuse thresholds, we show analytically that the system can either stay in a percolation regime up to breakdown, or start at some imposed current, to localize starting from the smallest scale (lattice spacing), or instead go to a diffuse localization regime where damage starts to concentrate in bands of width scaling as the width of the system, but remains diffuse at smaller scales. Depending on the nature of the quenched disorder on the fuse thresholds, we derive analytically the phase diagram of the system separating these regimes and the current levels for the onset of these possible localizations. We compare these predictions to numerical results.