A simple model of the mechanical behavior of ceramic-like materials

This paper presents a macroscopic mechanical theory for ceramic-like materials undergoing isothermal deformations. The proposed model describes an elastic brittle material which is damageable only under tensile loading. The damage lowers the elastic stiffness in traction simulating hence the softening and the fracture (zero stillness) of the material. The basic idea is to consider the continuum as a mixture of two phases—a linear elastic phase and a masonry phase (which shows a linear elastic behavior under compression but cannot hold tractive loads at all). The damage is then related to the volume fraction β of the clastic constituent. The constitutive relations are derived from macroscopic thermodynamics with the volume fraction β and its gradient β taken as state variables.