A thermodynamics-based cohesive model for interface debonding and friction

A constitutive model for interface debonding is proposed which is able to account for mixed-mode coupled debonding and plasticity, as well as further coupling between debonding and friction including post-delamination friction. The work is an extension of a previous model which focuses on the coupling between mixed-mode delamination and plasticity. By distinguishing the interface into two parts, a cracked one where friction can occur and an integral one where further damage takes place, the coupling between frictional dissipation and energy loss through damage is seamlessly achieved. A simple framework for coupled dissipative processes is utilised to derive a single yield function which accurately captures the evolution of interface strength with increasing damage, for both tensile and compressive regimes. The new material model is implemented as a user-defined interface element in the commercial package ABAQUS and is used to predict delamination under compressive loads in several test cases.     

A simple cohesive zone model that generates a mode-mixity dependent toughness

A simple, mode-mixity dependent toughness cohesive zone model (MDG_c CZM) is described. This phenomenological cohesive zone model has two elements. Mode I energy dissipation is defined by a traction–separation relationship that depends only on normal separation. Mode II (III) dissipation is generated by shear yielding and slip in the cohesive surface elements that lie in front of the region where mode I separation (softening) occurs. The nature of predictions made by analyses that use the MDG_c CZM is illustrated by considering the classic problem of an elastic layer loaded by rigid grips. This geometry, which models a thin adhesive bond with a long interfacial edge crack, is similar to that which has been used to measure the dependence of interfacial toughness on crack-tip mode-mixity. The calculated effective toughness vs. applied mode-mixity relationships all display a strong dependence on applied mode-mixity with the effective toughness increasing rapidly with the magnitude of the mode-mixity. The calculated relationships also show a pronounced asymmetry with respect to the applied mode-mixity. This dependence is similar to that observed experimentally, and calculated results for a glass/epoxy interface are in good agreement with published data that was generated using a test specimen of the same type as analyzed here.     

Thermal de-cohesion model for time of craze failure in cohesive zone

The cohesive parameter corresponding to craze failure time is predicted for thermoplastics material. A craze failure separation criterion is proposed for a cohesive zone subjected to a melt layer formed and thickened by adiabatic deformation heat from a craze drawing. The numerical simulation of cohesive zone separation is based on non-linear thermal conduction and convection in the craze region and bulk region around the active layer, associated with a mechanical craze fibrils drawing in an uniaxial direction. The craze failure time is predicted with the assumption of the constant craze thickening rate and cohesive stress for a pipe-grade polyethylene. The numerically computed model reveals the inverse power law decay of the craze failure time, t_f, with increasing in craze thickening rate, v_c, (almost, t_f∝V_c⁻¹) for the thermoplastics. The full notch impact test experimental results are consistent with the analysis prediction. It is concluded that the craze failure time can be theoretically predicted using the numerical modeling.     

A model of debonding instability for solid propellant rocket motor: Part I - Uniform longitudinal and transverse stress rate

The interface between a soft and a hard material is vulnerable to debonding because of the prevailing high stress gradient that could be further aggravated under dynamic transient conditions. Such a situation is common in a solid-fuel rocket motor where unstable debonding could be triggered from the initiation of a macrocrack near the interface. The transition from a survival state to a failure state requires knowledge of how the nonlinear, dissipative and nonhomogeneous effects of the dissimilar material interface would interact with load.The solid-fuel rocket motor problem is modeled by a three-layered composite system made of steel, adhesive and rubber under plane extension. Assessed are the time dependent nonhomogeneous deformation and possible failure modes. Only initial properties of the materials were used to determine the evolution of nonequilibrium response. This is made possible by application of the isoenergy density theory that accounts for internal heat generation and energy dissipation effects. Results are presented in two parts. In Part 1, the applied stress rates are assumed to be 0.75 ksi/s in both the longitudinal and transverse direction while Part II assumes different stress rates in these two directions. At approximately one second after loading, a slanted but straight macrocrack of about 5 × 10⁻³ in. is predicted to occur in the rubber next to the interface. This initial crack was found to become unstable at eight seconds and was estimated to be close to the adhesive/rubber interface over a length of 1.88 in. The onset of fracture depended directly on the load transient behavior.     

A refined cohesive zone model that accounts for inertia of cohesive zone of a moving crack

Existing cohesive zone models assume that actual fracture zone of non-zero mass can be modeled by a line segment (cohesive zone) with no mass and inertia. In the present work, a simplified mass-spring model is presented to study inertia effect of cohesive zone on a mode-I steady-state moving crack. It is showed that fracture energy predicted by the present model increases dramatically when a finite limiting crack speed is approached. Reasonable agreement with known experiments indicates that the present model has the potential to catch the inertia effect of cohesive zone which has been ignored in existing cohesive zone models and better simulate dynamic fracture at high crack speed.     

A model of debonding instability for solid propellant rocket motor: Part II — Unequal longitudinal and transverse stress rate

Considered in Part I was the debonding instability of a three-layered composite system made of steel, adhesive and rubber which models the situation in a solid-fuel rocket motor. Under the condition of a uniform stress rate of 0.75 ksi/s applied to the longitudinal and transverse direction, severe inhomogeneity of the material response were found in regions next to the adhesive/rubber interface. This led to the prediction of a macrocrack about 5 × 10⁻³ in. after an elapsed time of one second and sudden fracture over a length of 1.88 in. at eight seconds after loading.This is Part II of the work that examines the influence of load transients on interface failure. As unequal stress rate state is assumed where loading in the transverse direction is removed causing a more severe disturbance in the longitudinal direction even though the same stress rate of 0.75 ksi/s is maintained. A slightly bent crack of the order of 10⁻³ in. is predicted to initiate near the adhesive/rubber interface; it led to the onset of fracture over a length of 1.60 in. at four seconds. Onset of instability is predicted to occur at a much earlier state.     

A thermomechanical cohesive zone model for bridged delamination cracks

The coupled thermomechanical numerical analysis of composite laminates with bridged delamination cracks loaded by a temperature gradient is described. The numerical approach presented is based on the framework of a cohesive zone model. A traction-separation law is presented which accounts for breakdown of the micromechanisms responsible for load transfer across bridged delamination cracks. The load transfer behavior is coupled to heat conduction across the bridged delamination crack. The coupled crack-bridging model is implemented into a finite element framework as a thermomechanical cohesive zone model (CZM). The fundamental response of the thermomechanical CZM is described. Subsequently, bridged delamination cracks of fixed lengths are studied. Values of the crack tip energy release rate and of the crack heat flux are computed to characterize the loading of the structure. Specimen geometries are considered that lead to crack opening through bending deformation and buckling delamination. The influence of critical mechanical and thermal parameters of the bridging zone on the thermomechanical delamination behavior is discussed. Bridging fibers not only contribute to crack conductance, but by keeping the crack opening small they allow heat flux across the delamination crack to be sustained longer, and thereby contribute to reduced levels of thermal stresses. The micro-mechanism based cohesive zone model allows the assessment of the effectiveness of the individual mechanisms contributing to the thermomechanical crack bridging embedded into the structural analysis.     

A time dependent micro-mechanical fiber composite model for inelastic zone growth in viscoelastic matrices

In this work, a fiber composite model is developed to predict the time dependent stress transfer behavior due to fiber fractures, as driven by the viscoelastic behavior of the polymer matrix, and the initiation and propagation of inelastic zones. We validate this model using in situ, room temperature, micro-Raman spectroscopy fiber strain measurements. Multifiber composites were placed under constant load creep tests and the fiber strains were evaluated with time after one fiber break occurred. These composite specimens ranged in fiber volume fraction and strain level. Comparison between prediction and MRS measurements allows us to characterize key in situ material parameters, the critical matrix shear strain for inelastic zones and interfacial frictional slip shear stress. We find that the inelastic zone is predominately either shear yielding or interfacial slipping, and the type depends on the local fiber spacing.     

Thermodynamic-based cohesive zone healing model for self-healing materials

This work presents a thermodynamic-based cohesive zone framework to model healing in materials that tend to self-heal. The nominal, healing and effective configurations of continuum damage-healing mechanics are extended to represent cohesive zone configurations. To incorporate healing in a cohesive zone model, the principle of virtual power is used to derive the local static/dynamic macroforce balance and the boundary traction as well as the damage and healing microforce balances. A thermodynamic framework for constitutive modeling of damage and healing mechanisms of cracks is used to derive the evolution equations for the damage and healing internal state variables. The effects of temperature, resting time, crack closure, history of healing and damage, and level of damage on the healing behavior of the cohesive zone are incorporated. The proposed model promises solid basis for understanding the self-healing phenomena in self-healing materials.     

A cohesive zone model for fatigue crack growth allowing for crack retardation

A damage-based cohesive model is developed for simulating crack growth due to fatigue loading. The cohesive model follows a linear damage-dependent traction–separation relation coupled with a damage evolution equation. The rate of damage evolution is characterized by three material parameters corresponding to common features of fatigue behavior captured by the model, namely, damage accumulation, crack retardation and stress threshold. Good agreement is obtained between finite element solutions using the model and fatigue test results for an aluminum alloy under different load ratios and for the overload effect on ductile 316 L steel.     

A thermomechanically coupled viscoelastic cohesive zone model at large deformation

A new viscoelastic cohesive zone model is formulated for large deformation conditions and within a fully coupled thermomechanical framework. The model is suitable for the simulation of a wide range of problems especially for polymeric materials. It can capture viscoelastic crack propagation as well as energy dissipation due to this process. Starting from the principles of thermodynamics, a 3D finite element formulation is derived for a fully coupled simultaneous solution of the thermal field and the deformation field. The viscoelastic model is constructed by extending an elastic exponential traction separation law using a simple rheology. The viscous part of the tractions is postulated to have the same characteristic length as the elastic part and that they are related by a single material parameter. A Newtonian dashpot is used to describe the evolution of the viscous separation. Furthermore, thermal effects are accounted for using temperature expressions in both the traction laws and the viscosity of the dashpot, and using a heat conduction law across the interface. The model is implemented within an implicit finite element code and the internal variable is calculated using an internal iteration. Different numerical examples are used to verify the model and a comparison with experimental data shows a satisfactory agreement.     

A cohesive plastic and damage zone model for dynamic crack growth in rate-dependent materials

Mode I steady-state dynamic crack growth in rate-dependent viscoplastic solids containing damage, under small scale yielding conditions, is analyzed based on a modified cohesive zone model. A multi-scale approach is used to describe the entire non-linear zone consisting of a plastic region and a damage region, each of which has its own constitutive law. Traction in the damage region is characterized by a softening power-law, in terms of the ultimate strength, a softening index and a rate sensitivity factor. In the plastic region, the cohesive law is assumed to be both strain hardening and rate dependent. The critical crack opening displacement at the physical crack-tip controls crack growth. The governing integral equations are derived and solved by a collocation method combined with associated boundary conditions. Numerical results are presented for the traction and opening profiles along the cohesive zone, the fracture energy and lengths of the damage and non-linear zones at different crack speeds and for different material parameters. The importance of factors, such as material softening, plastic deformation, crack speed and viscosity, is identified by parametric studies. In addition, the competition of plastic flow and material damage, and its effect on crack growth, are discussed.     

A cohesive zone model with a large displacement formulation accounting for interfacial fibrilation

Interfacial fibrilation is a typical mechanism that frequently occurs during delamination of a polymer coating from a steel substrate. It involves large displacements at the interface as well as large deformations in the bulk material. Classical small displacement cohesive zone formulations fail to describe such large deformations correctly. Therefore, a generic cohesive zone model is introduced that is suitable to describe both uniform and non-uniform fracture at an interface with large deformations in the delaminating bulk and large displacements at the crack tip.     

A Dugdale model based geometrical amplifier enables the measurement of separation-to-failure for a cohesive interface

Regardless of all kinds of different formulae used for the traction-separation relationship in cohesive zone modeling, the peak traction σ_m and the separation-to-failure δ₀ (or equivalently the work-to-separation Γ) are the primary parameters which control the interfacial fracture behaviors. Experimentally, it is hard to determine those quantities, especially for δ₀, which occurs in a very localized region with possibly complicated geometries by material failure. Based on the Dugdale model, we show that the separation-to-failure of an interface could be amplified by a factor of L/r_p in a typical peeling test, where L is the beam length and r_p is the cohesive zone size. Such an amplifier makes δ₀ feasible to be probed quantitatively from a simple peeling test. The method proposed here may be of importance to understanding interfacial fractures of layered structures, or in some nanoscale mechanical phenomena such as delamination of thin films and coatings.     

A thermo-mechanical cohesive zone formulation for ductile fracture

The paper addresses the possibility to project both mechanical and thermal phenomena pertinent to the fracture process zone into a cohesive zone. A wider interpretation of the notion cohesive zone is thereby suggested to comprise not only stress degradation due to micro-cracking but also heat generation and energy transport. According to our experience, this widening of the cohesive zone concept allows for a more efficient finite element simulation of ductile fracture. The key feature of the formulation concerns the thermo-mechanical cohesive zone model, evolving within the thermo-hyperelastoplastic continuum, allowing for the concurrent modelling of both heat generation, due to the fracture process, and heat transfer across the fracture process zone. This is accomplished via thermodynamic arguments to obtain the coupled governing equation of motion, energy equation, and constitutive equations. The deformation map is thereby defined in terms of independent continuous and discontinuous portions of the displacement field. In addition, as an extension of the displacement kinematics, to represent the temperature field associated with the discontinuous heat flux across the fracture interface, a matching discontinuous temperature field involving the interface (or band) temperature is proposed. In the first numerical example, concerning dynamic quasi-brittle crack propagation in a thermo-hyperelastoplastic material, we capture the initial increase in temperature close to the crack surface due to the energy dissipating fracture process. In the second example, a novel application of ductile fracture simulation to the process of high velocity (adiabatic) cutting is considered, where some general trends are observed when varying the cutting velocity.     

Inverse parameter identification of cohesive zone model for simulating mixed-mode crack propagation

Inverse analysis is widely applied to the identification of material properties or model parameters. In order to improve the computational efficiency of the inverse method based on the genetic algorithm, an interpolation scheme upon the response surface constructed by the finite element simulation has been adopted in this paper. Meanwhile, a gradual homogenization treatment scheme has also been presented to improve the convergence of the inverse method based on the Kalman filter algorithm. Both methods are proven effective in dealing with the single-objective inverse problem. However, literature studies show that the adoption of multiple types of experimental information is useful to improve the accuracy of inverse analysis. In this case, it turns into a multiple-objective inverse problem. Our practice proved that the above-mentioned two methods might not yield a proper result if the sensitivity issue of different types of information is not considered. Therefore, another multi-objective inverse method, in combination of the above two optimization algorithms and a weight-estimating scheme that can consider such sensitivity, has been further presented. Finally, by using a mixed-mode crack propagation simulation and two types of experimental information (loading-displacement response curve and crack path profile), the parameters of the cohesive zone model were inversely identified and its simulation results are in good agreement with the experiment.