Mode-3 spontaneous crack propagation in symmetric functionally graded materials

The effects of spatially varying the material properties on the mode-3 planar crack propagation characteristics are numerically investigated. The spectral scheme that is available for homogeneous materials is modified to account for the symmetrically varying material properties. Crack propagation in hardening, softening and unsymmetric type of functionally graded have been simulated. A parametric study was performed by systematically varying the material inhomogeneity length scale. Our study indicated that softening and unsymmetric graded materials reduce the resistance to fracture, while a hardening material offers higher fracture resistance with increase in inhomogeneity. Only the transient phase of crack propagation speed was affected by the material property variation, irrespective of whether the material was hardening, softening or an unsymmetric type. The crack always reached a quasi-steady-state velocity, which remained unaffected by the material property inhomogeneity.     

The failure of a strain-softening material: II. The effect of geometrical and loading parameters

This paper presents theoretical analyses of a variety of models which simulate crack growth in a strain-softening material, with attention being focused on the fully developed softening zone length and the value of the crack tip stress intensity associated with the attainment of such a state. Results from the models show that both these parameters can be very sensitive to both the initial crack configuration and the loading characteristics, and can differ appreciably from the values appropriate to a semi-infinite crack in a remotely loaded infinite solid. The present paper's results underline the view that the analytical results obtained in Part I, and other workers' numerical results for a specific material, are rather special. Part I analyzed the behaviour of a crack in a double cantilever beam specimen, and it was shown that the value of the crack tip stress intensity associated with a fully developed softening zone is essentially independent of the initial crack size and beam height, and is equivalent to the value for a semi-infinite crack in a remotely loaded infinite solid.     

Fracture toughness from the standpoint of softening hyperelasticity

Fracture toughness of brittle materials is calibrated in experiments where a sample with a preexisting crack/notch is loaded up to a critical point of the onset of static instability. Experiments with ceramics, for example, exhibit a pronounced dependence of the toughness on the sharpness of the crack/notch: the sharper is the crack the lower is the toughness. These experimental results are not entirely compatible with the original Griffith theory of brittle fracture where the crack sharpness is of minor importance.¹To explain the experimental observations qualitatively we simulate tension of a thin plate with a small crack of a finite and varying sharpness. In simulations, we introduce the average bond energy as a limiter for the stored energy of the Hookean solid. The energy limiter induces softening, indicating material failure. Thus, elasticity with softening allows capturing the critical point of the onset of static instability of the cracked plate, which corresponds to the onset of the failure propagation at the tip of the crack. In numerical simulations we find, in agreement with experiments, that the magnitude of the fracture toughness cannot be determined uniquely because it depends on the sharpness of the crack: the sharper is the crack, the lower is the toughness.Based on the obtained results, we argue that a stable magnitude of the toughness of brittle materials can only be reached when a characteristic size of the crack tip is comparable with a characteristic length of the material microstructure, e.g. grain size, atomic distance, etc. In other words, the toughness can be calibrated only under conditions where the hypothesis of continuum fails.     

Effect of local elastic softening on crack extension

Elastic softening materials are brittle materials such that crack extension is associated with a softening zone behind the crack tip, with the material elements within this zone exerting a restraining effect on the crack tip. Crack extension is sometimes characterised in terms of the stress intensity K_F, due to the applied loadings, at the front of the softening zone, i.e. the actual crack tip. This paper is concerned with the determination of the maximum load K_F value for a general positive geometrical configuration, for the case where the softening zone size is small compared with a solid's characteristic dimension. The resulting expression for K_F is compared with the maximum load stress intensity value K_T measured with regard to the initial crack position, i.e. the trailing edge of the softening zone.     

基于Cosserat近场动力学的纤维混凝土破坏模拟

本文基于Cosserat近场动力学发展了一种纤维混凝土的近场动力学模型,对纤维混凝土的破坏现象进行研究。该模型考察了物质点独立的转动自由度和物质点间的力偶作用,而且有表征微结构尺寸的内禀长度,相比于传统的近场动力学模型,更适合描述纤维混凝土这类胶结颗粒材料的力学行为。本文采用完全离散的方式对纤维进行建模,引入了纤维拔出实验中拔出位移和切应力的关系,并且采用组构张量描述纤维的局部分布。数值算例部分模拟了单纤维拔出实验、带预制裂纹的平板拉伸实验和三点弯曲梁实验。数值结果和已有的数值模型以及实验进行了对比,验证了所提出模型的正确性。此外,本文还调查了微结构对纤维混凝土破坏的影响,数值结果显示Cosserat剪切模量和内禀长度会影响裂纹的局部分布,但是不会改变裂纹的主方向。     

混凝土拉伸软化曲线折线近似的逆解方法

研究基于Hillerborg的虚拟裂纹模型，利用有限元分析方法，求得折线近似的拉伸软化曲线的逆解方法。对弹性模量，初始开裂应力的决定方法进行了研究。以双直线模型的计算结果为算例进行了逆推分析，算例符合得很好。也较好地从实验得到的荷载位移曲线再现了拉伸软化曲线。这对于研究混凝土的断裂能，尺寸效应等问题很具意义。     

Identification of the representative crack length evolution in a multi-level interface model for quasi-brittle masonry

It is proposed here to identify the law of crack length evolution with a small number of parameters governing a recently presented model (Rekik and Lebon, submitted for publication) describing the interface behavior in damaged masonry. Studies on non-confined medium- and large-sized masonry structures have shown that it is necessary to obtain a linear increasing crack in the post-peak part of the “stress–strain or –displacement” diagram. In confined masonry structures showing softening and sliding parts, the results obtained with this crack evolution failed to match the experimental data. The crack lengths identified in the post-peak part at several points on the experimental “stress–displacement” diagram show that the representative crack length is a bilinear or trilinear function describing the increase in the crack length with respect to the decrease in the shear stress. Numerical studies on medium- and large-sized masonry structures consisting of the same materials subjected to various loads were performed to determine the ultimate crack length, and the results are relatively insensitive to the size of the masonry and the type of the load applied. The numerical local fields determined in the elementary and full-scale structures investigated were used to test the validity of the present model at the local scale, as well as to obtain an additional unilateral condition in the case of compressed masonry structures in order to prevent overlapping between the masonry components.     

不确定边界条件下悬臂梁裂纹参数识别方法研究

基于Bernoulli-Euler梁振动理论,以等效弹簧来模拟裂纹引起的局部软化效应和由非完全固支边界条件引起的转角效应。推导了悬臂梁在不确定边界条件下确定其振动频率的特征方程,直接利用该特征方程,提出一种有效估计裂纹参数的优化方法,通过计算测量频率和理论频率之间的误差目标函数最小化即可识别裂纹参数-裂纹位置和深度。最后,应用两个实例-理想固支边界条件下和非完全固支边界条件下的悬臂梁实验来说明本文方法的有效性。实验结果表明:只需梁结构前三阶频率即可识别裂纹位置和深度。对于理想边界条件下的裂纹参数识别,在测量频率存在小误差情况下,该方法仍能给出比较满意的结果,对于非完全固支边界条件下的裂纹参数识别,利用本文方法能得到比Narkis的方法更精确的裂纹位置识别结果。同时本文方法还能给出比较满意的裂纹深度识别结果。     

基于非局部塑性模型的应变局部化理论分析及数值模拟

通过求解一个第二类Fredholm方程,得到了基于非局部塑性软化模型的应变局部化问题理论解,结果表明,只有在当采用过非局部修正形式的非局部塑性软化模型才能得到应变局部化解,且得到的塑性应变分布和荷载响应依赖于所引入的特征长度及过非局部权参数。通过一维应变局部化有限元数值解,验证了非局部理论的引入能克服计算结果的网格敏感...     

大体积混凝土等效裂纹断裂模型研究

根据大比尺混凝土紧凑拉伸与楔入劈拉试验成果,将裂纹在稳定扩展中断裂有程区应力分布与相应的变形（张开度ω）联系起来,通过“归一化”处理,得到了大体积混凝土断裂过程区长度的解析表达式,建立了大体积混凝土Ⅰ型断裂破坏的等效裂纹断裂模型。     

Stable growth of a crack interacting with a circular inclusion

The problem of failure of a plate containing a circular inclusion and a crack is studied. The crack is oriented along a diameter of the inclusion and the plate is subjected to a remote uniaxial stress perpendicular to the crack axis. The process of slow stable crack growth from initiation to termination is studied by the strain energy density theory. The crack growth is simulated by predicting finite increments of crack extension when material elements near the crack tip absorb a critical amount of strain energy density level, . Unstable crack growth occurs when the strain energy density factor S reaches a critical value where r_c is the critical size of the final crack increment prior to instability. The stress at crack initiation and the critical stress and crack length at failure are determined. The influence of the mechanical properties of the plate and the inclusion, the relative position of the inclusion and the crack and the crack length on the characteristic quantities of stable crack growth is analyzed. The dependence of the stable crack growth process on the loading rate is also investigated. Results are displayed in graphical form.     

Mode-3 spontaneous crack propagation along functionally graded bimaterial interfaces

The effects of combining functionally graded materials (FGMs) of different inhomogeneous property gradients on the mode-3 propagation characteristics of an interfacial crack are numerically investigated. Spontaneous interfacial crack propagation simulations were performed using the newly developed spectral scheme. The numerical scheme derived and implemented in the present work can efficiently simulate planar crack propagation along functionally graded bimaterial interfaces. The material property inhomogeneity was assumed to be in the direction normal to the interface. Various bimaterial combinations were simulated by varying the material property inhomogeneity length scale. Our parametric study showed that the inclusion of a softening type FGM in the bimaterial system leads to a reduction in the fracture resistance indicated by the increase in crack propagation velocity and power absorbed. An opposite trend of increased fracture resistance was predicted when a hardening material was included in the bimaterial system. The cohesive tractions and crack opening displacements were altered due to the material property inhomogeneity, but the stresses ahead of the cohesive zone remained unaffected.     

An electrically conducting interface crack with a contact zone in a piezoelectric bimaterial

A plane problem for an electrically conducting interface crack in a piezoelectric bimaterial is studied. The bimaterial is polarized in the direction orthogonal to the crack faces and loaded by remote tension and shear forces and an electrical field parallel to the crack faces. All fields are assumed to be independent of the coordinate co-directed with the crack front. Using special presentations of electromechanical quantities via sectionally-analytic functions, a combined Dirichlet–Riemann and Hilbert boundary value problem is formulated and solved analytically. Explicit analytical expressions for the characteristic mechanical and electrical parameters are derived. Also, a contact zone solution is obtained as a particular case. For the determination of the contact zone length, a simple transcendental equation is derived. Stress and electric field intensity factors and, also, the contact zone length are found for various material combinations and different loadings. A significant influence of the electric field on the contact zone length, stress and electric field intensity factors is observed. Electrically permeable conditions in the crack region are considered as well and matching of different crack models has been performed.     

An isolated cohesive crack in tension

The shape of the back-calculated stress-separation curves obtained from the in-situ fracture of first-year sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctic is convex, and radically different from those for concrete. In these tests, the process zone size changes with crack growth, but the nature of this change differs with the test conditions, load-control or displacement control. These results prompted a closer examination of the cohesive crack model using the simplest cracked configuration, a finite cohesive crack in an infinite elastic medium loaded in tension by a uniform stress at infinity. Different types of strain softening are examined: rectangular softening, linear softening, prescribed cohesive stresses, and prescribed cohesive crack-opening displacements. For each of these cases, crack nucleation is examined; close attention is paid to test control conditions, be they load-control or fixed-grip. The test control conditions alter the fracture, crack nucleation, crack growth, and process zone size behavior significantly. Accurate approximate solutions to linear softening are presented and examined.     

The failure of a strain-softening solid containing an internal flaw

The paper presents results from a theoretical analysis of the effect of a penny-shaped crack on the failure of an infinite solid that is subjected to tension loadings normal to the crack plane. The material is strain-softening and the fully developed softening zone size and the crack tip stress intensity K associated with the attainment of this state are shown to be very dependent on the initial crack size. For load control conditions, it is shown that complete failure can occur prior to the full development of a softening zone, the failure stress depending on the initial crack size. Particular emphasis is focused on the limiting situation where the failure stress approaches the limit stress, i.e. the maximum stress that the strain-softening material can sustain, and the effect of the strain-softening law on this limiting situation is determined.     

梁结构中裂纹参数识别方法研究

以等效弹簧模型来模拟裂纹引起的局部软化效应,将该模型同Bernoulli-Euler梁理论、模态分析方法以及断裂力学原理等结合起来,利用传递矩阵法导出含裂纹梁振动的各种边界条件下的特征方程通解。借助于特征方程,提出两种识别裂纹深度和位置参数的数值方法,最后,通过对含裂纹悬臂梁的分析说明文中方法的有效性。     

Finite deformation analysis of crack tip fields in plastically compressible hardening–softening–hardening solids

Crack tip fields are calculated under plane strain small scale yielding conditions. The material is characterized by a finite strain elastic–viscoplastic constitutive relation with various hardening–softening–hardening hardness functions. Both plastically compressible and plastically incompressible solids are considered. Displacements corresponding to the isotropic linear elastic mode I crack field are prescribed on a remote boundary. The initial crack is taken to be a semi-circular notch and symmetry about the crack plane is imposed. Plastic compressibility is found to give an increased crack opening displacement for a given value of the applied loading. The plastic zone size and shape are found to depend on the plastic compressibility, but not much on whether material softening occurs near the crack tip.On the other hand, the near crack tip stress and deformation fields depend sensitively on whether or not material softening occurs. The combination of plastic compressibility and softening(or softening–hardening) has a particularly strong effect on the near crack tip stress and deformation fields.     

On the effects of characteristic lengths in bending and torsion on Mode III crack in couple stress elasticity

The problem of a stationary semi-infinite crack in an elastic solid with microstructures subject to remote classical K_III field is investigated in the present work. The material behavior is described by the indeterminate theory of couple stress elasticity developed by Koiter. This constitutive model includes the characteristic lengths in bending and torsion and thus it is able to account for the underlying microstructure of the material as well as for the strong size effects arising at small scales. The stress and displacement fields turn out to be strongly influenced by the ratio between the characteristic lengths. Moreover, the symmetric stress field turns out to be finite at the crack tip, whereas the skew-symmetric stress field displays a strong singularity. Ahead of the crack tip within a zone smaller than the characteristic length in torsion, the total shear stress and reduced tractions occur with the opposite sign with respect to the classical LEFM solution, due to the relative rotation of the microstructural particles currently at the crack tip. The asymptotic fields dominate within this zone, which however has limited physical relevance and becomes vanishing small for a characteristic length in torsion of zero. In this limiting case the full-field solution recovers the classical K_III field with square-root stress singularity. Outside the zone where the total shear stress is negative, the full-field solution exhibits a bounded maximum for the total shear stress ahead of the crack tip, whose magnitude can be adopted as a measure of the critical stress level for crack advancing. The corresponding fracture criterion defines a critical stress intensity factor, which increases with the characteristic length in torsion. Moreover, the occurrence of a sharp crack profile denotes that the crack becomes stiffer with respect to the classical elastic response, thus revealing that the presence of microstructures may shield the crack tip from fracture.     

Monte Carlo simulation of complex cohesive fracture in random heterogeneous quasi-brittle materials

A numerical method is developed to simulate complex two-dimensional crack propagation in quasi-brittle materials considering random heterogeneous fracture properties. Potential cracks are represented by pre-inserted cohesive elements with tension and shear softening constitutive laws modelled by spatially-varying Weibull random fields. Monte Carlo simulations of a concrete specimen under uni-axial tension were carried out with extensive investigation of the effects of important numerical algorithms and material properties on numerical efficiency and stability, crack propagation processes and load-carrying capacities. It was found that the homogeneous model led to incorrect crack patterns and load–displacement curves with strong mesh-dependence, whereas the heterogeneous model predicted realistic, complicated fracture processes and load-carrying capacity of little mesh-dependence. Increasing the variance of the tensile strength random fields with increased heterogeneity led to reduction in the mean peak load and increase in the standard deviation. The developed method provides a simple but effective tool for assessment of structural reliability and calculation of characteristic material strength for structural design.