Abstract
The effect of geometrical shape of eroding absolutely rigid particles on the threshold rate of failure has been studied. The Shtaerman–Kilchevsky theory of quasi-static blunt impact, which generalizes the Hertzs classical impact theory, is used for modelling the frictionless contact interaction of an axially-symmetric particle with an elastic half-space. The incubation time fracture criterion is applied for predicting surface fracture. It is shown that there exists a critical value of the particle shape parameter such that for all its lower values, the fracture energy possesses a non-zero minimal value.
Acknowledgments
I.A. and Yu.P. were supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Project Nos. 10-08-00966-a and 11-01-00491-a); G.M. gratefully acknowledges the support from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme Marie Curie Programme (Project No. PIAP-GA-284544-PARM-2). The authors also would like to express their gratitude to the Referees for their helpful comments and discussions.