Study of avalanches during the fracture of discrete models

Fluctuations on material response due to heterogeneity are known to contain intrinsic properties of the material. Two simple discrete models are presented and the fluctuations encountered on their responses are analyzed through avalanche distributions, which represent the evolution of micro-events of degradation in the material. Both models are based on the fiber bundle model. The first one deals with the propagation of an infinite 1D crack between an elastic body and a rigid substratum. The second one deals with the rupture of a softening heterogeneous material coupled to an elastic body.