Analysis of crack formation in bonded lap joints using finite fracture mechanics on the basis of linear elasticity solutions.

In this work, crack formation and the corresponding failure load of bonded lap joints is analyzed. The analysis is based on linear elasticity solutions for bonded lap joints and makes use of the finite fracture mechanics. A hybrid criterion is applied that states the spontaneous formation of a crack of finite size if a stress and an energy criterion are fulfilled simultaneously. The stress distribution of a linear elasticity solution is used for the stress criterion and for the calculation of the incremental energy release rate which is necessary for definition of the energy criterion. The resulting fracture criterion is compared to literature results and shows a good agreement. (© 2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A Simple Model for the Simulation of Delamination in Fiber-ReinforcedComposite Laminates under Mixed-Mode Loading Conditions

For a reliable prediction of the mechanical behavior of unidirectional fiber-reinforced composite laminates (FRCL), it is inevitable to take into account various damage and fracture mechanisms. In this work, delamination under arbitrary mixedmode loading conditions is examined in the framework of the finite element method. Delamination is assumed to be caused by failure of the resin-rich area in the interface between two layers of FRCL's. In this work, a cohesive interface elementin terms of natural stress-strain relationships which allows to describe the interlaminar mechanical behavior of FRCL's is introduced. The proposed model prevents the restoration of cohesion in the interface. The interpenetration of the crack faces is avoided by incorporating a simple contact algorithm. A representative numerical example shows the applicability of the proposed concept. (© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Two-dimensional analysis of a crack in quasicrystal materials

The two-dimensional problem of a crack in three-dimensional quasicrystals subject to far field loadings is studied. The analysis is based on the generalized Lekhnitskii's formalism. The analytical expressions for both the entire fields and the asymptotic fields near the crack tip are determined. The fracture quantities of quasicrystals, i.e., field intensity factors, energy release rates and so on, is a prerequisite. Numerical results for a Griffith crack under phason loading Mode I and II conditions are poltted. (© 2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Investigation of the local behavior of different cohesive zone models

Cohesive interface elements are well suited for three-dimensional crack propagation analyses as long as the crack path is known. This is the case e.g. in delamination analyses of laminated composite structures or failure analyses of adhesively bonded joints. Actually, they are widely used in such applications for both brittle and ductile systems. As long as the strength and fracture toughness of the material are accurately captured it is generally accepted that the shape of the cohesive law has little to no influence on the mechanical behavior of the investigated structures. However, when having a look on the local behavior of different cohesive zone models, such as stress distribution in the fracture process zone, the results exhibit certain differences. These will be studied in the present contribution. Especially the local stress distribution will be investigated and the effect on the computational efficiency will be pointed out. (© 2012 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Analysis of arbitrarily shaped planar cracks in two-dimensional hexagonal quasicrystals with thermal effects. Part I: Theoretical solutions

An extended displacement discontinuity (EDD) boundary integral equation method is proposed for analysis of arbitrarily shaped planar cracks in two-dimensional (2D) hexagonal quasicrystals (QCs) with thermal effects. The EDDs include the phonon and phason displacement discontinuities and the temperature discontinuity on the crack surface. Green's functions for unit point EDDs in an infinite three-dimensional medium of 2D hexagonal QC are derived using the Hankel transform method. Based on the Green's functions and the superposition theorem, the EDD boundary integral equations for an arbitrarily shaped planar crack in an infinite 2D hexagonal QC body are established. Using the EDD boundary integral equation method, the asymptotic behavior along the crack front is studied and the classical singular index of 1/2 is obtained at the crack edge. The extended stress intensity factors are expressed in terms of the EDDs across crack surfaces. Finally, the energy release rate is obtained using the definitions of the stress intensity factors.     

Micro-mechanical analyses of the effect of stress triaxiality and the Lode parameter on ductile damage and failure

The paper deals with the effect of different stress states on plastic deformations, damage and fracture of ductile materials. To be able to model these effects a continuum damage model has been introduced taking into account the dependence of stress-state on the constitutive equations. The model is based on the introduction of damaged and fictitious undamaged configurations. All parameters appearing in the constitutive equations are stress-state-dependent which can be characterized by the stress intensity, the stress triaxiality and the Lode parameter. Only experiments are not adequate enough to determine all constitutive parameters. Thus, additional series of three-dimensional micro-mechanical simulations of representative volume elements have been performed to get more insight in the complex damage mechanisms. These simulations cover a wide range of stress triaxialities and Lode parameters in tension, shear and compression domains. After all, the results from the micro-mechanical simulations are used to suggest the damage equations and to identify corresponding parameters. (© 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Material state change relationships to fracture path development for large-strain fatigue of composite materials

The long-term performance of engineering structures is typically discussed in terms of such concepts as structural integrity, durability, damage tolerance, fracture toughness, etc. These familiar concepts are usually addressed by considering balance equations, crack growth relationships, constitutive equations with constant material properties, and constant or cyclically applied load conditions. The loading histories are represented by changing stress (or strain) states only. For many situations, especially for those associated with high-performance engineering structures, the local state of the material may also change during service, so that the properties used in the equations are functions of time and history of applied conditions. For example, the local values of stiffness, strength, and conductivity are altered by material degradation to create "property fields" that replace the global constants, and introduce time and history into the governing equations. The present paper will examine a small set of such problems, which involve the accumulation of distributed damage and the development of an eventual fracture path leading to failure. Specifically, the paper discusses this problem in the context of material state changes measured by impedance variations as a method of following the details of fracture path development. An analysis and interpretations of observations will be presented, and limitations and opportunities associated with this general concept will be discussed.     

Crack – interface crack interactions in functionally graded/homogeneous composite bimaterials subjected to a heat flux

A bimaterial containing an interface crack and consisting of a homogeneous material and a functionally graded material (FGM) with a system of small internal cracks is considered. The thermal fracture of the biomaterial under the action of a heat flux applied to it at infinity is investigated. The problem is studied in the case where the interface crack is much larger than the internal ones. It is assumed that the thermal properties of the FGM are continuous functions of the thickness coordinate. Asymptotic analytical formulas for the thermal stress intensity factors (TSIFs) at the tips of the interface crack are obtained as series in a small parameter (the ratio between sizes of the internal and interface cracks). Then, the critical heat fluxes and the angles of propagation direction of the interface crack are calculated using the criterion of maximum circumferential stress. A parametric analysis shows that the propagation direction of the interface crack depends on the location and orientation of the system of internal cracks. The parameters of inhomogeneity of the FGM affect the value of TSIFs and, hence, the deflection angle of the interface crack.     

Influence of Multiple Micro Cracks on the Damage Behavior of a Macro-Crack Tip北大核心CSCD

The solution of an infinite plane containing a macro crack and a cluster of micro cracks under uniaxial tensile load was presented based on Muskhelishvili’s complex function method and the stepwise recursive method. The stress field and stress intensity factor K were obtained. Combined with the damage mechanics, damage parameter D of the macro-crack tip and the micro-crack tip under uniaxial tension was redefined, and the influence of different damage zone forms on the damage of the crack tip was analyzed. The results show that, both the chain-distribution and the reverse-chain-distribution micro cracks have an amplifying effect on the macro crack growth, and the damage parameter increases with the decrease of the inclination angle of the micro crack and the reduction of the distance between the macro crack and the micro cracks. For a relatively small inclination angle of the micro crack, the damage parameters of the macro crack and the micro crack heightens, and the damage parameter of the macro crack increases with the micro-crack length. For evenly distributed micro cracks in the continuous damage zone, the micro cracks have an amplifying effect on the macro-crack growth, and the damage parameter of the macro crack increases with the micro-crack number. © 2022 Editorial Office of Applied Mathematics and Mechanics. All rights reserved.     

A novel treatment of crack boundary conditions in phase field models of fracture

In the phase field approach for fracture an additional scalar field is introduced in order to describe the state of the material between intact and fully broken. So far, for the loading dependent degradation of stiffness (damage) either the volumetric-deviatoric split of strain [1, 2] or the spectral decomposition [3, 4] is used. In contrast to such an isotropic degradation of stiffness, the fully broken state represents a crack with a particular orientation. Both aforementioned approaches do not take the crack orientation into account. This may lead to the violation of the crack boundary conditions. In order to satisfy these conditions the phase field approach is modified here by taking the orientation of the crack into account. (© 2015 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Variational Phase Field Modeling of Fracture Caused by Fluid Transport in Poroelastic Solids

The numerical modeling of failure mechanisms due to fracture based on sharp crack discontinuities is extremely demanding and suffers in situations with complex crack topologies. This drawback can be overcome by recently developed diffusive crack modeling concepts, which are based on the introduction of a crack phase field. Such an approach is conceptually in line with gradient-extended continuum damage models which include internal length scales. In this paper, we extend our recently outlined mechanical framework [1–3] towards the phase field modeling of fracture in the coupled problem of fluid transport in deforming porous media. Here, extremely complex crack patterns may occur due to drying or hydraulic induced fracture, the so called fracking. We develop new variational potentials for Biot-type fluid transport in porous media at finite deformations coupled with phase field fracture. It is shown, that this complex coupled multi-field problem is related to an intrinsic mixed variational principle for the evolution problem. This principle determines the rates of deformation, fracture phase field and fluid content along with the fluid potential. We develop a robust computational implementation of the coupled problem based on the potentials mentioned above and demonstrate its performance by the numerical simulation of complex fracture patterns. (© 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Crack growth modeling via 3D automatic adaptive mesh refinement based on modified-SPR technique

In this paper, the three-dimensional automatic adaptive mesh refinement is presented in modeling the crack propagation based on the modified superconvergent patch recovery technique. The technique is developed for the mixed mode fracture analysis of different fracture specimens. The stress intensity factors are calculated at the crack tip region and the crack propagation is determined by applying a proper crack growth criterion. An automatic adaptive mesh refinement is employed on the basis of modified superconvergent patch recovery (MSPR) technique to simulate the crack growth by applying the asymptotic crack tip solution and using the collapsed quarter-point singular tetrahedral elements at the crack tip region. A-posteriori error estimator is used based on the Zienkiewicz–Zhu method to estimate the error of fracture parameters and predict the crack path pattern. Finally, the efficiency and accuracy of proposed computational algorithm is demonstrated by several numerical examples.     

Experimental study of fracture toughness and energy in composite materials

The paper presents an experimental investigation of fracture characteristics of composite materials. The post-peak response of the load-crack opening displacement of notched specimens is used to evaluate the fracture energy associated with progressive matrix damage and crack growth. Effects of fiber orientation and other geometric characteristics on fracture parameters are studied. The load versus crack opening displacement as well as crack length, fracture toughness, and energy versus the number of loading cycles are obtained for different specimens. Based on the experimental results of this study, concepts of the fracture mechanics are applied to evaluate the evolution of fracture toughness and energy.Presented at the 10th International Conference on the Mechanics of Composite Materials (Riga, April 20–23, 1998).Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, R3T 2N2. Published in Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 34, No. 3, pp. 323–332, May–June, 1998.     

Assessment of asymmetric crack initiation in open-hole plates using a coupled stress and energy criterion

An application of the finite fracture mechanics concept to open-hole plates subject to combined tensile and bending loading is presented. In finite fracture mechanics, the simultaneous satisfaction of both, a stress and an energy criterion, is enforced as a condition for crack initiation. Efficient modeling and closed-form expressions for the dependence of the stress and energy quantities on governing structural and material parameters allow for a comprehensive numerical analysis of the onset of asymmetric crack patterns. The obtained failure load predictions are found to agree well with a cohesive zone model and experimental data from literature. (© 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Energy release rate for cracks in finite‐strain elasticity

Griffith's fracture criterion describes in a quasistatic setting whether or not a pre‐existing crack in an elastic body is stationary for given external forces. In terms of the energy release rate (ERR), which is the derivative of the deformation energy of the body with respect to a virtual crack extension, this criterion reads: if the ERR is less than a specific constant, then the crack is stationary, otherwise it will grow. In this paper, we consider geometrically nonlinear elastic models with polyconvex energy densities and prove that the ERR is well defined. Moreover, without making any assumption on the smoothness of minimizers, we rigorously derive the well‐known Griffith formula and the J‐integral, from which the ERR can be calculated. The proofs are based on a weak convergence result for Eshelby tensors. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Micro-mechanical studies on the effect of various stress-states on ductile damage and failure

The paper deals with the effect of different stress states on damage and failure behavior of ductile materials. To be able to model these effects a continuum damage model has been proposed taking into account the dependence of the stress intensity, the stress triaxiality and the Lode parameter on the constitutive equations. The model is based on the introduction of damaged and fictitious undamaged configurations. Only experiments are not adequate enough to determine all constitutive parameters. Therefore, additional three-dimensional micro-mechanical simulations of representative volume elements have been performed to get more insight in the complex damage mechanisms. These simulations cover a wide range of different void sizes, void shapes and void distributions. After all, the results from the micro-mechanical simulations are used to propose the damage equations and to identify corresponding parameters. (© 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A three-dimensional progressive damage model for fiber reinforced composites with an implicit-explicit integration scheme

This contribution proposes a fully three dimensional “continuum damage model” (CDM) to describe the interlaminar and intralaminar failure mechanisms of transversely isotropic elastic-brittle materials under static loading. The constitutive model is derived from an energy function with independent damage variables for each damage mode. The evolution law is based on energy dissipation within the damage process, taking into account the critical energy release rate to weaken the effect of mesh dependent outcome. The onset of damage can be predicted with Cuntze's failure mode concept [1] as well as with Hashin's failure criteria. In this model linear stress decreasing is assumed. In addition, an implicit-explicit integration scheme, first proposed by Oliver [3] for isotropic damage models, is adapted to increase the stability and robustness of numerical simulations and to decrease the computational cost of material failure analyses. By comparing the results from implicit-explicit integration schemes and standard implicit integration schemes, a high level of agreement is found. (© 2015 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Simulation of Crack Propagation under Small-Scale Yielding by means of a Non-local GTN-Model

Today, the local approach to fracture is widely applied to simulate the failure of specimens. For ductile damage processes the Gurson-Tvergaard-Needleman model is the quasi-standard. In the last time non-local extensions allowed a mesh-size independent simulation of crack growth. However, most publications dealing with this subject focus upon the convergence regarding global quantities such as the load-displacement relation. Minor attention is paid to the fields directly at the crack tip. Correspondingly, the interrelationship between the intrinsic length of the model and relevant microscopic damage processes at the crack tip is only partly established until now. In the present study the crack propagation is simulated for an implicitly gradient enriched GTN-model within a boundary layer in order to overcome influences of the specimen geometry. The different stages of damage evolution are resolved by a fine mesh. (© 2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Problems of a cut in a three-dimensional elastic wedge

The Ritz variational method is applied to problems of a crack (a cut) in the middle half-plane of a three-dimensional elastic wedge. The faces of the elastic wedge are either stress-free (Problem A) or are under conditions of sliding or rigid clamping (Problems B and C respectively). The crack is open and is under a specified normal load. Each of the problems reduces to an operator integrodifferential equation in relation to the jump in normal displacement in the crack area. The method selected makes it possible to calculate the stress intensity factor at a relatively small distance from the edge of the wedge to the cut area. Numerical and asymptotic solutions [Pozharskii DA. An elliptical crack in an elastic three-dimensional wedge. Izv. Ross Akad. Nauk. MTT 1993;(6):105–12] for an elliptical crack are compared. In the second part of the paper the case of a cut reaching the edge of the wedge at one point is considered. This models a V-shaped crack whose apex has reached the edge of the wedge, giving a new singular point in the solution of boundary-value problems for equations of elastic equilibrium. The asymptotic form of the normal displacements and stress in the vicinity of the crack tip is investigated. Here, the method employed in [Babeshko VA, Glushkov YeV, Zinchenko ZhF. The dynamics of Inhomogeneous Linearly Elastic Media. Moscow: Nauka; 1989] and [Glushkov YeV, Glushkova NV. Singularities of the elastic stress field in the vicinity of the tip of a V-shaped three-dimensional crack. Izv. Ross Akad. Nauk. MTT 1992;(4):82–6] to find the operator spectrum is refined. The new basis function system selected enables the elements of an infinite-dimensional matrix to be expressed as converging series. The asymptotic form of the normal stress outside a V-shaped cut, which is identical with the asymptotic form of the contact pressure in the contact problem for an elastic wedge of half the aperture angle, is determined, when the contact area supplements the cut area up to the face of the wedge.