Deformation model for brittle materials and the structure of failure waves

Constitutive equations that describe the experimentally observed failure waves are proposed to model inelastic strains of brittle materials. The complete system of equations is hyperbolic, each equation of this system has divergent form. The model is based on the assumption that continual failure is the process of transition from an intact state to a “fully damaged” state described by the kinetics of the order parameter. The structure of stationary traveling compressive waves is analyzed using a simplified model. It is shown that in a certain range of amplitudes, the wave splits into an elastic precursor and a failure wave.