Micro-Macro Behavior near the Crack Tip in a Particulate Composite Material

In recent years, a considerable amount of work has been done in studying crack growth behavior in highly filled polymeric materials [1-4]. The importance of these studies stems from the fact that the crack growth behavior in the material may significantly affect the integrity of the structure made of that material. The basic approach used in characterizing the particulate composite material is based on linear elastic or linear viscoelastic fracture mechanics. According to the theories, crack growth behavior is controlled by the local stress/strain near the crack tip. Therefore, the values of local stress/strain near th