Modeling adiabatic shear failure from energy considerations

The numerical simulation of dynamic structural failure by localized shear is quite complex in terms of constitutive models and choice of adequate failure criteria, along with a pronounced mesh-sensitivity. As a result, the existing numerical procedures are usually quite sophisticated, so that their application for design purposes is still limited. This study is based on the implementation of a simple energy-based criterion, which was developed on experimental considerations (Rittel et al., 2006), and uses a minimal number of adjustable parameters. According to this criterion, a material point starts to fail when the total strain energy density reaches a critical value. Thereafter, the strength of the element decreases gradually to zero to mimic the actual structural behavior. The criterion was embedded into commercial finite element software and tested by simulating numerically four typical high-rate experiments. The first is the dynamic torsion test of a tubular specimen. The second concerns the failure mode transition in mode II fracture of an edge crack in plain strain. The last two involve dynamic shear localization under high rate compression of a cylindrical and a shear compression specimen. A very good adequation was found both qualitatively and quantitatively. Qualitatively, in terms of failure path selection, and quantitatively, in terms of local strains, temperatures and critical impact velocity. The proposed approach is enticing from an engineering perspective aimed at predicting the onset and propagation of dynamic shear localization in actual structures.