Modes of failures in disordered solids

Abstract: The two principal ingredients determining the failure modes of disordered solids are the level of heterogeneity and the length scale of the region affected in the solid following a local failure. While the latter facilitates damage nucleation, the former leads to diffused damage, the two extreme failure modes. In this study, using the random fiber bundle model as a prototype for disorder solids, we classify every failure modes that are the results of interplay between these two effects. We obtain scaling criteria for the different modes and propose a general phase diagram that provides a framework for understanding previous theoretical and experimental attempts of interpolation between these modes.