A Numerical Study on Ductile Material Failure

Abstract

Experiments show that the failure of ductile materials can be characterized by a rate-independent parameter, relative spacing d defined as the ratio of the distance between two voids and the radius of voids. In this study, this experimental phenomenon is analyzed via numerical simulations using 3-D finite element model. Considering that hydrostatic stress is a dominant factor in the evolution of microvoid nucleation, growth and coalescence in ductile materials, numerical simulations are performed to obtain the relationship between relative spacing d and hydrostatic stress in the ligament between voids. Numerical results show that hydrostatic stress along matrix ligament is sensitive to the change of the relative spacing. Further analysis shows that the failure of ductile materials can modeled by using a criterion of the threshold of local hydrostatic stress in the ligament. Based on such a criterion, a curve displaying the relationship between the strength of ductile material and strain rate is obtained numerically. It is concluded that the failure criterion of ductile materials can be described by using local hydrostatic stress and relative spacing between two voids, which is not sensitive to strain rates.