Fracture patterns in exploding balloons

Abstract eng:
In this paper, we describe the formation of different fracture patterns observed in exploding rubber balloons. Thanks to a device using latex sheets, the patterns are obtained in a controlled manner. High-speed video allows monitoring the trajectory of the crack as well as the deformation of the stretched membrane. The first pattern is a tree-like crack network that yields the fragmentation of the balloon. Such a network develops through a succession of crack tip-splitting when the crack tips reach a limiting velocity. The second pattern is the occurrence of abrupt 900 turns in the crack trajectory. The phenomenon is observed when the cracks propagate perpendicularly to the retraction of the membrane. The turns occur when the membrane stretch become locally isotropic. Our observations indicate that the cracks maintain a trajectory perpendicular to the direction of the strongest stretch.

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