STUDY OF DAMAGE AND CRACK IN PARTICULATE COMPOSITES

Crack initiation and propagation was studied for particulate composite specimens with a notch. A numerical simulation was conducted to predi ct the crack behaviour based on the damage initiation, growth and loca l saturation; the results were compared to those obtained in the exper imental study. In the numerical study, it was assumed that based on th e observation of experimental results, a crack forms when a damage is saturated in a localized zone. Predicted crack sizes agreed well with the experimental results. The numerical simulation showed the crack pr opagation and temporary arrest as the notched specimen was continuousl y loaded. The experimental result also showed a temporary halt of crac k propagation while the crack tip became blunt. Therefore, the predict ion of crack initiation, growth and arrest was satisfactory using the concept of damage growth and saturation. In addition, the study indica ted that an inhomogeneous material property, which usually results fro m a nonuniform particle distribution in a matrix material, significant ly affected the crack behaviour in a particulate composite. (C) 1998 E lsevier Science Limited. All rights reserved.