Abstract:
The feasibility of both discrete and correlated cracking has been experimentally shown by the example of a model composite system with a characteristic structural element of $\sim$100-$\mu$m scale by varying the deformation rate and test temperature. The duration and intensity of the correlated cracking stage and its transformation to uncontrolled brittle fracture, i.e., the ductile-brittle transition, are controlled by the feasibility of dissipative properties of both structural elements and the composite system as a whole.