A phase field solution for modelling hyperelastic material and hydrogel fracture in ABAQUS. (December 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zheng, Shoujing; Huang, Rong; Lin, Ruijie; Liu, Zishun
• Is Part Of: Engineering fracture mechanics. Volume 276:Part B(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-12
• Subjects: Phase field fracture -- Finite element implementation -- Hyperelastic material -- Hydrogel; Fracture mechanics -- Periodicals; Rupture, Mécanique de la -- Périodiques; Fracture mechanics; Periodicals; 620.112605
• DOI: 10.1016/j.engfracmech.2022.108894
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0013-7944

Abstract

Highlights: The phase field fracture model of hyperelastic material and hydrogel aiming at simulating its fracture process is developed by building the UHYPER + HETVAL framework based on the analogy between the phase field evolution law and the heat transfer equation. The phase field model is implemented into the commercial finite element code ABAQUS/Standard, which can robustly simulate the fracture process under different 2D or 3D boundary conditions. Parameter study is carried out to study the influence of water content and thickness of the 3D plate on the fracture process of the hydrogel. A reasonable agreement between the experimental fracture data of the PDMS and PAAM hydrogel and simulation results is obtained. Abstract: The phase field fracture model is attracting significant interest. To model fracture in hyperelastic material and hydrogel, we have implemented a robust two- and three-dimensional phase field method in the commercial finite element code ABAQUS/Standard. The method is based on the rate-independent variational principle of diffuse fracture and also exploits the analogy between the phase field evolution law and the heat transfer equation, enabling the use of Abaqus' in-built features and sparing the need for defining user elements. The framework is shown to accommodate both staggered and monolithic solution schemes. The approach can properly simulate the fracture for both hyperelastic material and hydrogel under different boundary conditions. Several examples are provided to demonstrate the robustness of the method. The provided source codes and the tutorials make it easy for practicing engineers and scientists to model crack propagation in hyperelastic and gel materials.