Micro-cracking of brittle polycrystalline materials with initial damage. Issue 1 (3rd March 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Gulizzi, V.; Benedetti, I.
• Is Part Of: Revue Européenne de mécanique numérique. Volume 25:Issue 1/2(2016)
• Page Start: 38
• Page End: 53
• Publication Date: 2016-03-03
• Subjects: Polycrystalline materials -- micro-mechanics -- micro-cracking -- representative volume element -- boundary element method; Engineering mathematics -- Periodicals; Mechanics -- Data processing -- Periodicals; Finite element method -- Periodicals; Mechanics -- Mathematical models -- Periodicals; Engineering -- Statistical methods -- Periodicals; 621.05
• DOI: 10.1080/17797179.2016.1181032
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1779-7179

Abstract

Abstract: In this paper, the effect of pre-existing damage on brittle micro-cracking of polycrystalline materials is explored. The behaviour of single and multiple cracks randomly distributed within a grain scale polycrystalline aggregate is investigated using a recently developed grain boundary 3D computational framework. Each grain is modelled as a single crystal anisotropic domain. Opening, sliding and/or contact at grain boundaries are modelled using nonlinear cohesive-frictional laws. The polycrystalline micro-morphologies are generated using Voronoi tessellation algorithms in combination with a regularisation scheme to avoid the presence of unnecessary small geometrical entities (edges and faces) usually responsible for excessively refined meshes. Additionally, a semi-discontinuous grain boundary mesh within the Boundary Element framework is employed to reduce the computational time and memory storage, while retaining analysis accuracy. To enhance the analysis convergence, a Newton–Raphson scheme is used. The performed numerical tests produce physically sound micro-cracking evolutions, confirming the potential of the technique for multiscale analysis of polycrystalline material damage and failure.