A Nonlinear Analysis of an Equilibrium Craze: Part II—Simulations of Craze and Crack Growth

In this study we investigate the effects of nonlinear fibril behavior on the mechanics of craze and crack growth. The effect of strain-softening cohesive material on crack stability is of particular interest and is examined via a craze and crack model developed in the first part of this work where the formulation and solution of the problem are discussed.1 In this second part, quasi-static growth of a craze with a central crack is analyzed for different nonlinear force-displacement (p-v) relations for the craze fibrils. A “critical crack tip opening displacement” (CTOD), or more precisely, “critical fibril extension” is employed as the criterion for fracture. The p-v relation is further assumed to be invariant with respect to the craze and crack lengths. The results are compared with the Dugdale model; the craze zone size and the energy dissipation rate approach asymptotic values in the limit of long cracks. The problem of craze growth from a precut crack under increasing far-field loading is then studied. In the case where the p-v relation is monotonically softening, the crack can start to grow in an unstable manner before the crack tip opening displacement reaches its critical value.