Stick-slip crack motion in viscoelastic solids: The flash temperature effect

We study crack-propagation in rubber-like materials and show that the non-uniform temperature distribution which occurs in the vicinity of the crack tip, has a profound influence on the crack propagation mechanism, and may strongly enhance the crack propagation energy for high crack velocities. At very low crack-tip velocities, the heat produced at the crack tip can diffuse away, but already at moderate crack tip velocities a very large temperature increase occurs close to the crack tip resulting in a hot-crack propagation regime. The transition between the low-speed regime and the hot-crack regime is very abrupt and may result in unstable crack motion, e.g. stick-slip motion or catastrophic failure.