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A finite element analysis of fracture initiation in ductile/brittle periodically layered composites

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Abstract

A near-tip plane strain finite element analysis of a crack terminating at and normal to the interface in a laminate consisting of alternate brittle and ductile layers is conducted under mode-I loading. The studies are carried out for a system representing steel/alumina composite laminate. The Gurson constitutive model, which accounts for the ductile failure mechanisms of microvoid nucleation, growth and coalescence, is employed within the framework of small deformation plasticity theory. Evolution of plastic zone and damage in the ductile layer is monitored with increasing load. High plastic strain localization and microvoid damage accumulation are found to occur along the brittle/ductile interface at the crack-tip. Fracture initiation in the ductile phase is predicted and the conditions for crack renucleation in the brittle layer ahead of the crack are established for the system under consideration. Ductile fracture initiation has been found to occur before plasticity spreads in multiple ductile layers. Effects of material mismatch and yield strength on the plastic zone evolution are briefly discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, 21250, U.S.A

    M. Jha & P.G. Charalambides

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  1. M. Jha
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  2. P.G. Charalambides
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Jha, M., Charalambides, P. A finite element analysis of fracture initiation in ductile/brittle periodically layered composites. International Journal of Fracture 90, 299–323 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1007488927130

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