Self-affine properties of fractures in brittle materials

We present the result of numerical simulations for a fracturing process in a three-dimensional solid subjected to a mode-I load in a quasi-static regime. The solid is described using the Born model on an FCC lattice with a starting notch. We obtain a value of the roughness exponent ' 0:5 in agreement with the value measured in microfracturing experiments. Our result supports the idea that at small length scales the fracturing process can be considered as quasi-static, which is the basic of the possible application of the model of line depinning to the case of fractures