High-rate deformation and fracture of fiber reinforced concrete

This paper presents the results of dynamic compression and splitting-tensile tests of cardiff fiber reinforced concrete (CARDIFRC) composite using the Kolsky technique and its modification. The strength and deformation characteristics of fiber-reinforced concrete were determined experimentally at high strain rates. The mechanical characteristics were found to depend on the strain rate and stress rate. A uniform interpretation of the rate effects of fracture of the tested fiber-reinforced concrete is given on the basis of a structural-temporal approach. It is shown that the time dependences of both the compressive and tensile strengths of fiber reinforced concrete are well calculated using the incubation time criterion.     

Influence on fiber inclination and interfacial conditions on fracture in composite materials

Dynamic photoelasticity has been used to study the effect of the fiber-matrix interface and fiber orientation on dynamic crack growth in fiber composites. Two types of fiber-matrix interfaces are considered: well bonded and partly debonded. The fiber-matrix interface is characterized by conducting fiber pullout tests. Partly debonded fibers aligned with the loading direction, result in higher fiber debonded lengths, lower dynamic stress-intensity factorK _ID and lower fracture surface roughness compared to well bonded fibers. Orientation of brittle fibers, with respect to the loading direction, impairs their ability to lowerK _ID , while oriented ductile fibers produce no significant change inK _ID . Misalignment of fibers from the loading direction reduces the fiber debonded length due to kinding of the fiber at the crack face.     

The effect of anisotropic damage evolution on the behavior of ductile and brittle matrix composites

Anisotropic damage evolution laws for ductile and brittle materials have been coupled to a micromechanical model for the prediction of the behavior of composite materials. As a result, it is possible to investigate the effect of anisotropic progressive damage on the macroscopic (global) response and the local spatial field distributions of ductile and brittle matrix composites. Two types of thermoinelastic micromechanics analyses have been employed. In the first one, a one-way thermomechanical coupling in the constituents is considered according to which the thermal field affects the mechanical deformations. In the second one, a full thermomechanical coupling exists such that there is a mutual interaction between the mechanical and thermal fields via the energy equations of the constituents. Results are presented that illustrate the effect of anisotropic progressive damage in the ductile and brittle matrix phases on the composite’s behavior by comparisons with the corresponding isotropic damage law and/or by tracking the components of the damage tensor.     

The effect of a fiber loss in periodic composites

Three types of analyses are combined to investigate the effect of missing fibers in periodic continuous fiber composites that are subjected to thermomechanical loadings. The representative cell method is employed in the first analysis for the construction of Green’s functions elastic fields for the fiber–matrix interfacial jumps problem. As a result, the infinite domain problem is reduced, in conjunction with the discrete Fourier transform, to a finite domain problem on which Born–von Karman type boundary conditions are applied. In the second analysis, the transformed elastic field is determined by a second-order expansion of the displacement vector in terms of local coordinates, and by imposing the equilibrium equations, the interfacial traction and displacement conditions, and the Born–von Karman type boundary conditions. The actual non-periodic elastic field at any point is obtained from the Fourier-transformed fields by a numerical inversion. In the third one, a micromechanical analysis for periodic continuous fiber composites in which all fibers are perfectly bonded to the surrounding matrix provides the elastic field within the phases. A superposition of the thermoelastic fields obtained from the first and third analysis provides the traction-free boundary conditions at the interface of the missing fibers. The accuracy of the offered approach is verified by comparison with analytical solutions that exist in some special cases. Results show the effect of a missing fiber in boron/epoxy and glass/epoxy composites that are subjected to various types of thermomechanical loadings.     

On the effect of fiber creep-compliance in the high-temperature deformation of continuous fiber-reinforced ceramic matrix composites

Creep models for unidirectional ceramic matrix composites reinforced by long creeping fibers with weak interfaces are presented. These models extend the work of Du and McMeeking (1995) [Du, Z., McMeeking, R. 1995. Creep models for metal matrix composites with long brittle fibers. J. Mech. Phys. Solids 43, 701–726] to include the effect of fiber primary creep present in the required operational temperatures for ceramic matrix composites (CMCs). The effects of fiber breaks and the consequential stress relaxation around the breaks are incorporated in the models under the assumption of global load sharing and time-independent stochastics for fiber failure. From the set of problems analyzed, it is found that the high-temperature deformation of CMCs is sensitive to the creep-compliance of the fibers. High fiber creep-compliance drives the composite to creep faster, leading however to greater lifetimes and greater overall strains at rupture. This behavior is attributed to the fact that the greater the creep-compliance of the fibers, the higher the creep rate but the slower the matrix stress relaxation – since the matrix must deform with a rate compatible with the more creep-resistant fibers – and therefore the less the load carried by the main load-bearing phase, the fibers. As a result, fewer fibers fail and less damage is accumulated in the system. Moreover, the greater the creep-compliance of the fibers, the slower the matrix shear stress relaxation – and thus the lower the levels of applied stress for which this effect becomes important. The slower the shear stress relaxes, the slower the “slip” length increases. Due to the Weibull nature of the fibers, the fiber strengths at the smaller gauge length of the slip length are stronger; therefore fewer fibers undergo damage. Hence, high fiber creep-compliance is desirable (in the absence of any explicit creep-damage mechanism) in terms of composite lifetime but not in terms of overall strain. These results are considered of importance for composite design and optimization.     

The mixed mode brittle fracture criteria in siliding mode fracture

It is well-known that the present mixed mode brittle fracture criteria are all theopening mode fracture criterion.We consider that mixed mode brittle fracture of slidingmode fracture exists too.Hence we propose three criteria of mixed mode brittle fracture ofsliding mode fracture;:the radial shearing stress criterion,the maximum shearing stresscriterion and the distortional strain-energy-density criterion.Thus,we can overall explainthe phenomena of brittle fracture in the structural elements with cracks.     

The role of shear stresses in brittle fracture

Using the three-dimensional model for brittle fracture developed earlier by S.A.F. Murrell and P.J. Digby (1970,1972) shear stress concentrations are calculated for brittle bodies and the relative roles of tensile and shear stresses in the fracture process are considered. It is found that the maximum shear stress and the maximum tensile stress occur at different places on a crack, and that there is a wide range of stress states for which they do not occur on the same crack. Furthermore, if the theoretical cleavage strength is σ_max and the theoretical shear strength is τ_max, then cleavage precedes inelastic shear and brittle fracture is possible, for suitable stress systems, when $\text{σ}{}_{\max }\text{<}\text{2τ}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>max</mtext>}}\text{(1 ? ν)}$, where ν is the Poisson's ratio of the solid matrix. This appears to be in accordance with empirical observations.     

The strain energy criterion of mixed-mode brittle fracture

In this paper, we proposed a new cr tenon or mixea-moae brittle fracture, i.e., the strain energy criterion, which can be stated as (K_Ⅰ/K_Ⅰc)² +(K_Ⅰ/K_Ⅰc)²+(K_Ⅱ/K_Ⅱc)²=1. This criterion is shown to be in good agreement with known experimental data.In this paper, an experimental criterion:(K_Ⅰ/K_Ⅰc)^m+(K_Ⅱ/K_Ⅱc)ⁿ=1, 1≤_n^m≤2.is also proposed.     

The deformation and fracture of balloons

Inflation of balloons provides a straightforward way of achieving large biaxial deformations. Previous studies have shown that when a balloon bursts, crack propagation occurs at very high speed – much higher than would be expected from the low strain modulus and elastic wave velocity of the rubber. The present paper is concerned with studies of the deformation and fracture of cylindrical balloons. On inflation, the deformations of such a balloon pass through an unstable region but subsequently increase monotonically with pressure. In this relatively high pressure region, the ratio of the longitudinal and circumferential extension ratios is broadly in accord with expectations from high-strain elasticity theory when the ratio of the corresponding stresses is taken into account. On bursting, crack speeds up to around 300 m/s in this region. It is shown that these speeds are in accord with large increase in incremental moduli for the highly-strained rubber. Marked changes in crack tip profile observed at very high crack speeds are consistent with control of the rate of growth by inertia rather than by the viscoelastic properties of the rubber (as is believed to be the case at lower speeds). Consistent with this, various elastomers having different glass transition temperatures show similar crack growth behaviour in the very high speed region.     

Prestressing effect of twisted fiber yarn in composites

By utilizing the behavior of twisted fiber yarn, prestressing composites can be made. In unloading, the matrix of the prestressing composite is applied in compression. If tensile load acts on the composite, the value of the tensile stress acting on the materials may decrease greatly. By twisted fiber yarn, therefore, the tensile strength of the composites can be improved. An analysis for extension of continuous fiber yarns is made here and residual stress after curing is taken into account. The prestressing intensity in the composite depends on the twist of fiber yarn. The photoelastic test and the analysis of electron micrograph are performed, and the theoretical method for calculating prestressing effect is presented in this paper.     

Photoelasto-plastic studies on brittle fracture of high-polymer solids

The mechanism of brittle fracture of high-polymer solids is experimentally investigated under one-or two-dimensional stress states by a new photoelastoplastic method suggested by the author. The application of the photoelasto-plastic method on the brittle-fracture problem is based on the principle that breaking stress can be computed in brittle fracture by the measurement of the fringe orderN _B of isochromatic lines at fracture point. Bending under three-point and four-point loads, and the plane problems, some having stress concentration and others being under contacting load, are examined by using rigid polyester cast resin containing styrol as a model specimen; and, in conclusion, the brittle fracture of high-polymer solids under one- or two-dimensional stress states is decided by the constant tensile stress, whose magnitude depends only upon the material used as a model specimen, and is larger than its ultimate tensile strength. Many kinds of factors in fracture are defined, and stress-concentration factors in fracture are compared with stress-concentration factors in elasticity. A new photoelasto-plastic simple method for the determination of stress-concentration factors in elasticity is suggested by utilization of the experimental results on this brittle fracture of high-polymer solids and is examined on the perforated plane problem having finite width under tension in comparison with theoretical analysis and the experimental results by other measuring methods.     

On possible causes of brittle fracture

Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Mekhaniki i Tekhnicheskoi Fiziki, No. 3, pp. 137–141, May–June, 1988.     

Activation energy based extreme value statistics and size effect in brittle and quasibrittle fracture

Because the uncertainty in current empirical safety factors for structural strength is far larger than the relative errors of structural analysis, improvements in statistics offer great promise. One improvement, proposed here, is that, for quasibrittle structures of positive geometry, the understrength factors for structural safety cannot be constant but must be increased with structures size. The statistics of safety factors has so far been generally regarded as independent of mechanics, but further progress requires the cumulative distribution function (cdf) to be derived from the mechanics and physics of failure. To predict failure loads of extremely low probability (such as 10^-6 to 10^-7) on which structural design must be based, the cdf of strength of quasibrittle structures of positive geometry is modelled as a chain (or series coupling) of representative volume elements (RVE), each of which is statistically represented by a hierarchical model consisting of bundles (or parallel couplings) of only two long sub-chains, each of them consisting of sub-bundles of two or three long sub-sub-chains of sub-sub-bundles, etc., until the nano-scale of atomic lattice is reached. Based on Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution of thermal energies of atoms, the cdf of strength of a nano-scale connection is deduced from the stress dependence of the interatomic activation energy barriers, and is expressed as a function of absolute temperature T and stress-duration τ (or loading rate 1/τ). A salient property of this cdf is a power-law tail of exponent 1. It is shown how the exponent and the length of the power-law tail of cdf of strength is changed by series couplings in chains and by parallel couplings in bundles consisting of elements with either elastic-brittle or elastic-plastic behaviors, bracketing the softening behavior which is more realistic, albeit more difficult to analyze. The power-law tail exponent, which is 1 on the atomistic scale, is raised by the hierarchical statistical model to an exponent of m=10 to 50, representing the Weibull modulus on the structural scale. Its physical meaning is the minimum number of cuts needed to separate the hierarchical model into two separate parts, which should be equal to the number of dominant cracks needed to break the RVE. Thus, the model indicates the Weibull modulus to be governed by the packing of inhomogeneities within an RVE. On the RVE scale, the model yields a broad core of Gaussian cdf (i.e., error function), onto which a short power-law tail of exponent m is grafted at the failure probability of about 0.0001-0.01. The model predicts how the grafting point moves to higher failure probabilities as structure size increases, and also how the grafted cdf depends on T and τ. The model provides a physical proof that, on a large enough scale (equivalent to at least 500 RVEs), quasibrittle structures must follow Weibull distribution with a zero threshold. The experimental histograms with kinks, which have so far been believed to require the use of a finite threshold, are shown to be fitted much better by the present chain-of-RVEs model. For not too small structures, the model is shown to be essentially a discrete equivalent of the previously developed nonlocal Weibull theory, and to match the Type 1 size effect law previously obtained from this theory by asymptotic matching. The mean stochastic response must agree with the cohesive crack model, crack band model and nonlocal damage models. The chain-of-RVEs model can be verified and calibrated from the mean size effect curve, as well as from the kink locations on experimental strength histograms for sufficiently different specimen sizes.     

Phase-field models for brittle and cohesive fracture

In this paper we first recapitulate some basic notions of brittle and cohesive fracture models, as well as the phase-field approximation to fracture. Next, a critical assessment is made of the sensitivity of the phase-field approach to brittle fracture, in particular the degradation function, and the use of monolithic versus partitioned solution schemes. The last part of the paper makes extensions to a recently developed phase-field model for cohesive fracture, in particular for propagating cracks. Using some simple examples the current state of the cohesive phase-field model is shown.     

Multiresolution modeling of ductile reinforced brittle composites

Tungsten carbide-cobalt (WC-Co) is an important ductile reinforced brittle composite used in a range of important applications. The relationship between microstructure and mechanical properties of WC-Co is truly multiscale; micromechanical processes interact at different scales, resulting in permanent plastic deformation, damage accumulation and final failure of the composite. The goal of the current paper is to develop a continuum-based model, which captures the progressively finer scales of strain localization observed in WC-Co composites during plastic deformation and failure. This is achieved via a set of multiresolution governing equations; a microstress is introduced at each scale of strain localization, which represents the resistance to inhomogeneous strain localization at that scale. The extra constitutive models associated with these microstresses can be elucidated from the average response of separate computational cell models of a representative microstructure. The final multiresolution continuum model is capable of capturing the important length scales of deformation during the plastic stage of deformation without resorting to modeling microstructural scale features directly. The result is a more realistic continuum model; in particular the fracture toughness prediction is more physical when these length scales are incorporated compared to a conventional continuum approach.