The Fracture of Highly Deformable Soft Materials: A Tale of Two Length Scales

The fracture of highly deformable soft materials is of great practical importance in a wide range of technological applications, emerging in fields such as soft robotics, stretchable electronics, and tissue engineering. From a basic physics perspective, the failure of these materials poses fundamental challenges due to the strongly nonlinear and dissipative deformation involved. In this review, we discuss the physics of cracks in soft materials and highlight two length scales that characterize the strongly nonlinear elastic and dissipation zones near crack tips in such materials. We discuss physical processes, theoretical concepts, and mathematical results that elucidate the nature of the two length scales and show that the two length scales can classify a wide range of materials. The emerging multiscale physical picture outlines the theoretical ingredients required for the development of predictive theories of the fracture of soft materials. We conclude by listing open challenges and directions for future investigations.