Accelerated void growth in porous ductile solids containing two populations of cavities (Q1969505)

The paper present analytical and numerical study of accelerated void growth arising from the presence of a large cavity and small cavities dispersed in the matrix. The model of porous ductile solids considered in the paper is a simplified Gurson model, in which the homogeneous yield criterion involves two stress invariants, the mean strain rate is a function of equivalent strain rate and of stress invariants, and the porosity evolution in time is produced by the mean strain rate, all of them being influenced by the current value of porosity. The authors obtain an analytical solution (at the initial time instant) for a hollow porous sphere when the matrix contains secondary small uniformly distributed voids, if the central void is traction-free, and the sphere is subjected to overall hydrostatic tensile loads. The radial velocity, as well as the logarithmic growth rate of small voids are derived based on the calculation of stress field. The hollow porous sphere problem is analysed to account for the porosity which does not remain uniform at subsequent time instants. The asymptotic study of the porosity near the boundary of the large cavity shows that small cavities may reach coalescence prior to the large cavity. The authors analyze the rupture process when the coalescence of voids starts, thus forming spherical shells of riuned matter around the large cavity. A numerical method is developed, based on spatial and temporal discretisations of fields equations. The numerical results are given in terms of three porosities: the averaged porosity in the porous zone (i.e in the exterior of the ruined zone), the true porosity of the central hole, and the effective porosity which does not account for the metal enclosed in the riuned zone. The authors also derive evolution equations for these porosities, considered to be internal parameters for an appropriate ideal rigid-plastic ductile materials.