Thermomechanical behavior of thermoviscoelastic solid during dynamic crackpropagation

The constitutive relations of the thermoviscoelasticity are rigorously form ulated, and the corresponding finite-element equations are derived. Due to the second law of thermodynamics, a nonlinear term, which appears in both t he energy equation and the Clausius-Duhem inequality, is incorporated in th e finite-element equations. This work is focused on the effect of this diss ipative energy term on the stress and temperature field of an isotropic the rmoviscoelastic solid during dynamic crack propagation through a finite-ele ment analysis. The numerical solutions clearly demonstrate that the tempera ture elevates on the cracked surface in the wake of the advancing crack tip . This is the consequence of truthfully incorporating the second law of the rmodynamics in the analysis of the dynamic process for materials that posse ss viscosity. Meanwhile, the effect of different crack propagation speeds o n the stress and temperature distributions is also investigated.