On the practical application of the cohesive model

The cohesive model has been formulated such that it can be used for practical application. A specific traction-separation law is proposed which is mainly given by the cohesive stress, T-0 and the cohesive energy, Gamma(0). Experimental procedures have been developed which allow the determination of these material parameters. By means of experiments on three different materials and different specimen geometries it has been demonstrated that the proposed procedure provides very good predictions. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.