La mécanique de l’endommagement au secours de la mécanique de la rupture  : l’évolution de cette idée en un demi-siècle

Abstract

This article traces the main lines of the evolution of the ideas that have prevailed and the choices that have been made in modelling the fracture of materials for a century. In particular, the emphasis is on the creation and development of damage mechanics with its primary ambition to remedy the shortcomings of Griffith’s fracture theory. We underline the successes of this enterprise and the advances it has allowed by insisting on the key role played by the variational approach, but we also show its limits.

Keywords

• Endommagement
• Rupture
• Calcul des Variations
• stabilité
• discontinuités libres