Material failure time and the fiber bundle model with thermal noise
arXiv:cond-mat/9908329
Abstract
The statistical properties of failure are studied in a fiber bundle model with thermal noise. We find that in agreement with recent experiments the macroscopic failure is produced by a thermal activation of microcracks. Most importantly the effective temperature of the system is amplified by the spatial disorder (heterogeneity) of the fiber bundle.
11 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett