Universality in the velocity jump in the crack propagation observed for food-wrapping films for daily use

Abstract

The velocity jump found in the crack propagation for rubbers has been a powerful tool for developing tough rubber materials. Although it is suggested by a theory that the jump could be observed widely for viscoelastic materials, the report on a clear jump is very limited and, even in such a case, reproducibility is low, except for elastomers. Here, we use a mundane food-wrapping film as a sample and observe the crack propagation velocity with pulling the sample at a constant speed in the direction perpendicular to the crack. As a result, we find the jump occurs at a critical strain with high reproducibility. Remarkably, the plot of the crack-propagation velocity as a function of strain can be collapsed onto a master curve by an appropriate rescaling, where the master curve is found to be universal for change in the pulling speed and in the sample height. The result reveals a key parameter for the jump is the strain, suggesting the existence of a small length that governs the deformation along the crack. The present study sets limitations on future theories and opens an avenue for the velocity jump to become a tool for developing a wide variety of tough polymer-based materials.