Dynamic stability of crack fronts: out-of-plane corrugations.

The dynamics and stability of brittle cracks are not yet fully understood. Here we use the Willis-Movchan 3D linear perturbation formalism [J. Mech. Phys. Solids 45, 591 (1997)] to study the out-of-plane stability of planar crack fronts in the framework of linear elastic fracture mechanics. We discuss a minimal scenario in which linearly unstable crack front corrugations might emerge above a critical front propagation speed. We calculate this speed as a function of Poisson's ratio and show that corrugations propagate along the crack front at nearly the Rayleigh wave speed. Finally, we hypothesize about a possible relation between such corrugations and the long-standing problem of crack branching.