A theoretical and computational framework for anisotropic continuum damage mechanics at large strains. (Q5957549)

It is dealt with anisotropic continuum damage at large strains. Based on the concept of a fictitious isotropic undamaged configuration, an additional linear tangent map is introduced which allows the interpretation of deformation gradient as a damage. The corresponding Finger tensor -- denoted as damage metric -- is considered as a second-order internal variable. Due to the principle of strain energy equivalence with respect to the fictitious effective space and standard reference configuration, the free energy function can be computed via push-forward operations within the nominal setting. Within the framework of standard dissipative materials, assuming the existence of a damage potenial, associated evolution equations are constructed which substantially affect the anisotropic nature of the damage formulation. The numerical integration of governing ordinary differential equations is highlighted whereby two different schemes and higher-order methods must be taken into account. Finally, some numerical examples demonstrate the applicability of the proposed framework.