Abstract
We present an experimental realization with electrical composites of the thermal fuse model [D. Sornette and C. Vanneste, Phys. Rev. Lett. 68, 612 (1992)], proposed as a paradigm of dynamical rupture in heterogeneous media. An isolating polymer matrix is filled with conducting particles, and the particle-particle contacts evolve due to thermal expansion of the matrix as a function of the applied current . Above a critical current, the electric resistance increases as a power law of time to rupture , with , and the breakdown time scales as in agreement with the model.
- Received 19 April 1996
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.77.2738
©1996 American Physical Society