Spontaneous fracture of solids as affected by surfactants

Fracture of solids under the action of surfactants is studied. The limiting case of manifestation of chemisorption effects without significant effect of mechanical stresses is considered. The growth of plane cracks in solids with a regular structure upon contact with surfactants is described for the case where the model of the process is molecular wedge–assisted crack wedging. The critical stress–intensity factors are estimated in terms of the critical crack opening in wedging by a semi–infinite wedge of constant thickness. An anomalously low resistance to breaking of a solid into parts is observed under certain conditions (spontaneous fracture).