Analysis of intergranular creep crack growth by means of grain-elements

Abstract

A new computational technique is discussed to analyze intergranular creep crack growth in a discrete manner. A standard continuum FEM description is matched to a crack tip region in which grains are represented individually by so-called grain-elements and grain boundaries by special interface-elements. These grain boundary elements incorporate grain boundary sliding and the nucleation and creep-diffusive growth of cavities until coalescence and microcracking. Some preliminary results are presented for C ^* controlled, Mode I crack growth under small-scale damage conditions.