The Origin and Propagation of Fracture Cracks Caused by the Impact of a Wedge on an Elastic-Viscoplastic material

Emergence and propagation of strong rupture waves an elastic-viscoplastic medium generated by the impact of a solid wedge are considered. It is shown that there is a discontinuity in the tangential velocity at the junction points of the flat and cylindrical parts of the plastic loading waves. The discontinuity grows in time and leads to a break in the tangents to the displacement wave. The break point of the tangential velocity gradient for a short-time impact is the head point of a developing crack, that is, it is a generator of a running crack.