Griffith Fracture Mechanics

Griffith's theory of brittle fracture explains how small flaws or cracks in materials grow unstably, leading to sudden catastrophic failure. Formulated by Alan A. Griffith in 1921 through experiments on glass fibers, this theory balances the elastic energy released by crack growth against the surface energy required to create new material surfaces. It predicts that materials fail at stresses far below their theoretical strength due to the stress concentration around pre-existing flaws.