DETERMINATION OF TEMPERATURE-FIELD AROUND A RAPIDLY MOVING CRACK-TIP IN AN ELASTIC-PLASTIC SOLID

The problem of local heating and temperature rise induced by dynamic c rack growth in elastic-plastic solids is studied numerically. Heat gen eration caused by plastic work dissipation is estimated from crack-tip stress and deformation fields obtained separately by two of the autho rs. The temperature field in an Eulerian description is shown to be go verned by a convection-dominated flow equation with a singular source term that is distributed over an irregular crack-tip region, the activ e plastic zone. The peak value and spatial distribution of the tempera ture increase are determined using two independent computer codes, whi ch are developed by the authors based on an integral representation of the temperature field and on an upwind finite element formulation. Th e accuracy and reliability of the numerical methods and their solution s are studied carefully against exact, closed-form solutions for sever al specially designed boundary value problems. These methods are used to simulate dynamic fracture tests on AISI 4340 steel specimens, and t he predicted temperature contours and maximum values are found to be i n good agreement with those measured and estimated experimentally.