Essential work of fracture of soft elastomers

Stress concentration occurs at the crack tip of a notched sample when loaded. The crack tip region has been recognized of consisting of two regions: the inner (or end) region, which is also called the fracture process zone, and the surrounding outer region where inelastic deformation occurs. The size of these regions is strongly related to the fatigue threshold and the toughness of the material, and has been extensively studied both...