VARIATIONS OF THE EFFECTIVE ELASTIC-MATERIAL PROPERTIES OF A BRITTLE SOLID WITH DISTRIBUTED VOID PROPAGATION

The initial fracture (damage) process in brittle solids subject to uni form uniaxial or biaxial compression may be simulated by a system of n on-self-similarly propagating internal (three-dimensional) 3D ellipsoi dal voids. The variations of effective elastic material properties wit h propagating ellipsoidal voids may thus be estimated. Although both a ssumptions and approximations are introduced, the estimated effective elastic material properties indicate the general trend of the overall non-linear anisotropic response of a cracking solid. This proposal see ms to provide a better understanding of the non-local damage process o f a brittle solid fracturing in compression.