Failure time in the fiber-bundle model with thermal noise and disorder
  The average time for the onset of macroscopic fractures is analytically and numerically investigated in the fiber-bundle model with quenched disorder and thermal noise under a constant load. We find an implicit exact expression for the failure time in the low-temperature limit that is accurately confirmed by direct simulations. The effect of the disorder is to lower the energy barrier. 
Antonio Politi, Segio Ciliberto, and Riccardo Scorretti