FROM DAMAGE TO FRACTURE-MECHANICS AND CONVERSELY - A COMBINED APPROACH

Fracture mechanics and damage mechanics are two correlated theories. I n some instances,e.g., for large specimens, crack propagation may be v iewed equivalently as a sudden localization of damage. Relationships b ased on thermodynamic considerations between the two theories are pres ented in this paper. They lead to the definition of the equivalent cra ck concept, in passing from a damage zone to a fracture problem and, c onversely, a damage zone is determined which is equivalent to a crack. Different possible applications are presented showing that, for the s ame problem, the two concepts can be used depending on the situation. Furthermore a solution to calculate fracture energy for large specimen s, when damage parameters deduced from classical tests are known, is p roposed to illustrate the capability of these equivalences. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.