00917nas a2200109   4500008004300000245006400043210006200107520055900169100002400728700001900752856003600771       2010                        en_Ud  00aA model of crack propagation based on viscous approximation0 amodel of crack propagation based on viscous approximation3 aIn the setting of antiplane linearized elasticity, we show the existence of quasistatic evolutions of cracks in brittle materials by using a vanishing viscosity approach, thus taking into account local minimization. The main feature of our model is that the path followed by the crack needs not be prescribed a priori: indeed, it is found as the limit (in the sense of Hausdorff convergence) of curves obtained by an incremental procedure. The result is based on a continuity property for the energy release rate in a suitable class of admissible cracks.1 aLazzaroni, Giuliano1 aToader, Rodica  uhttp://hdl.handle.net/1963/4110