Automatic simulation of the initiation and propagation of interface cracks and matrix cracks with VCFEM

Abstract

Based on the transformation mechanism of interfacial cracks propagating into a matrix, this paper proposes a model containing the particle phase, interphase, matrix phase, interface cracks, and matrix cracks. The model derives the functional, and we develop a new Voronoi cell finite element method (VCFEM) containing the interphase to describe interface crack and matrix crack initiation and propagation. A new mesh-subdivision method reflecting crack propagation from the interface to the matrix is constructed, which can automatically simulate the initiation and propagation of interface cracks and the transformation and penetration of interface cracks into matrix cracks. With crack propagation, various combined elements models are proposed. For these combined elements, their shared external nodes change as the cracks propagate through the original element, while the external node numbers of other elements remain unchanged. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by comparing the results of the new VCFEM with those obtained with Abaqus and analytical solution through several numerical examples. Since the proposed method assumes a high-order stress field within an element and can capture the stress concentration with fewer elements, it is suitable for large-scale calculation.