Dynamic Fiber Bundle Models with Local Load Sharing

Dynamic fiber bundle models are useful tools in explaining dynamic failure behavior in heterogeneous materials. Such models shed light on diverse phenomena such as fatigue in structural materials and earthquakes in geophysical settings. The load-sharing concepts and models used in the fiber bundle models have a direct application in textile engineering (fibers), material science and testing (fatigue and crack growth), and structural engineering (welded joints on large support structures) disciplines. In addition, these models are also useful in biological and medical sciences. While much attention has been devoted to static or fast-fracture strength, where material elements are assumed time independent, dynamic models describing creep-rupture and fatigue lifetime are perhaps even more important. Building good theoretical models has proven straightforward, but analyzing them has required delving into statistical details of the interaction of various flaw features and failure configurations, which has proven to be deceptively difficult.