Ductile crack growth -- I. A numerical study using computational cells with microstructurally-based length scales (Q1354919)

Many metals which fail by a void growth mechanism display a macroscopically planar fracture process zone of one or two void spacings in thickness characterized by intense plastic flow in the ligaments between the voids; outside this region, the voids exhibit little or no growth. To model this process, a material layer containing a pre-existing population of similar sized voids is assumed. The thickness of the layer, \(D\), can be identified with the mean spacing between the voids. This layer is represented by an aggregate of computational cells of linear dimension \(D\). Each cell contains a single void of some initial volume. The Gurson constitutive relation for dilatant plasticity describes the hole growth in a cell resulting in material softening and, ultimately, loss of stress carrying capacity. Finite element calculations are carried out to determine crack growth resistance curves for plane strain, mode I crack growth under small scale yielding. The parameters affecting fracture resistance are discussed emphasizing the roles of microstructural parameters and continuum properties of the material.