A damage-based temperature-dependent model for ductile fracture with finite strains and configurational forces

Abstract

In this paper we assess a crack propagation criterion based on the notion of configurational force in the spirit of Gurtin (Configurational forces as basic concepts of continuum physics. Applied mathematical sciences. Springer, Berlin, 2000).We extend the theory of Gurtin to finite strain elasto-plastic fracture and in addition take thermal effects into account. The global model is a system of nonlinear and non-smooth equations which are solved directly with a finite element discretization. Comparison with laboratory experiments is provided, thereby showing that the concept of configurational force can be successfully used for computational damage-based fracture tests on ductile materials.