ANISOTROPIC MICROCRACK NUCLEATION IN BRITTLE MATERIALS

A constitutive model for anisotropic microcracking in brittle materials is developed. The model is based on a stress controlled microcrack nucleation criterion, which can vary in a random way between different microcracks. The effects of microcrack closure and a random distribution of residual stresses are included in the analysis. The resultant inelastic strains are determined using a standard homogenization technique Numerical results are presented for three simple loading cases : pure tension, biaxial tension and triaxial tension. Crack tip shielding resulting from microcrack nucleation is also analysed, and numerical results of Ktip K∞ are presented for two different microcrack nucleation criteria. © 1990.