Phase-field modelling of fatigue crack propagation
Typ
Projektarbete, avancerad nivå
Project Report, advanced level
Project Report, advanced level
Program
Publicerad
2023
Författare
Degwekar, Sharvil
Purantagi, Ankeet Mohan
Tzanetou, Afroditi
Zetterlund, Gustav
Åkesson, Louise
Modellbyggare
Tidskriftstitel
ISSN
Volymtitel
Utgivare
Sammanfattning
Fracture prediction and modeling are crucial in studying the behavior of materials under stress.
This research focuses on utilizing the phase field method for accurate fracture prediction, which
offers distinct advantages over traditional methods by representing fractures implicitly as smooth
fields. The phase field method was implemented and analyzed using Matlab and COMSOL as tools,
aiming to investigate and gain insights into the ease and feasibility of phase-field modelling for fatigue
fracture problems. This was conducted mainly by introducing a fatigue degradation function,
with the purpose of simulating the degrading process of the material after repeated cyclic loading.
Through comprehensive analysis, quantities of interest such as the history variable, accumulated
strain energy, and damage variable were examined. The obtained trends and results were found to
align with existing literature, although neither calibration nor validation was conducted due to time
limitations. Suggestions for future work include implementing a force-controlled load, calibration of
the fatigue degradation function for a larger amount of load cycles, and validation with experimental
data. Nevertheless, the results obtained from the fatigue implementation can provide a solid foundation
for continued research. In conclusion, the progress during the project highlighted the potential
of the phase-field model to predict fatigue fracture by modelling the crack through a damage field.
Hence, fatigue prediction using phase-field modelling has the potential to make significant progress
and thus contribute to less computationally expensive simulations for more complex fatigue fracture
problems.
Beskrivning
Ämne/nyckelord
phase field, fatigue, cyclic loading, fatigue degradation function