Abstract
Broken thin brittle plates like windows and windshields are ubiquitous in our environment. When impacted locally, they typically present a pattern of cracks extending radially outward from the impact point. We study the variation of the pattern of cracks by performing controlled transverse impacts on brittle plates over a broad range of impact speed, plate thickness, and material properties, and we establish from experiments a global scaling law for the number of radial cracks incorporating all these parameters. A model based on Griffith’s theory of fracture combining bending elastic energy and fracture energy accounts for our observations. These findings indicate how the postmortem shape of broken samples are related to material properties and impact parameters, a procedure relevant to forensic science, archaeology, or astrophysics.
- Received 31 January 2013
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.174302
© 2013 American Physical Society
Focus
FocusWindshield Cracks Hold Secrets of Impact
Published 26 April 2013
Firing projectiles at plates of glass or plastic shows that the number of resulting cracks is an indicator of the impact velocity and of material properties.
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