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Supersonic fractures are fractures where the fracture velocity moves faster than the speed of sound in the material. This phenomenon was first discovered by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Metals Research in Stuttgart (Markus J. Buehler and Huajian Gao) and IBM Almaden Research Center in San Jose, California (Farid F. Abraham).

The issues of intersonic and supersonic fracture become the frontier of dynamic fracture mechanics. The work of Burridge initiated the exploration for intersonic crack growth (when the crack tip velocity V is between the shear in wave speed C^8 and the longitudinal wave speed C^1.

[edit] See also

• Characteristic energy length scale

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