2001/03/09 by K-t. Leung, L. Jozsa, M. Ravasz +1
Physics and Astronomy · #cond-mat.mtrl-sci #cond-mat.soft
published as Nature, vol.410 pp.166 (8 March 2001) · 4 pages, 1 figure
arxiv created 2001/03/09 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30
A fascinating class of patterns, often encountered in nature as meandering cracks on rocks, dried-out fields and tectonic plates is produced by the fracture of solids. Here we report the observation and modeling of an unusual type of patterns consisting of spiral cracks within fragments of a thin layer of drying precipitate. We find that this symmetry-breaking cracking mode arises naturally not from twisting forces, but from a propagating stress front induced by the fold-up of the fragments.