A Phase-Field Approach to Model Ductile Quasi-Static and Fatigue Fracture in Short Fiber Reinforced Polymer Composites
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Fracture events pose a significant obstacle to the widespread use of Short Fiber Reinforced Polymers (SFRPs) in diverse engineering applications, especially in lightweight structures. This contribution introduces a phase-field approach to model ductile fracture events in SFRPs under both quasi-static and fatigue loading conditions. Specifically, we employ an invariant-based anisotropic elasto-plastic material model to describe the macroscopic behavior of SFRPs, incorporating pressure-dependent characteristics. Non-associative plastic evolution is introduced herein to capture realistic plastic deformations. This material model is then consistently integrated with the phase-field approach for modeling ductile fracture. To account for fatigue effects, the free-energy function is modified based on thermodynamic considerations, introducing a degradation of the material's fracture toughness. The theoretical formulation and numerical implementation are presented. The modeling approach's performance is assessed through a series of numerical simulations, demonstrating its applicability and robustness.
