Verification of a Cohesive Zone Model for Ductile Fracture

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Abstract
In the present paper, ductile crack growth in an aluminium alloy is numerically simulated using a cohesive zone model under both plane stress and plane strain conditions for two different fracture types, shear and normal modes. The cohesive law for ductile fracture consists of two parts—a specific material’s separation traction and energy. Both are assumed to be constant during ductile fracture (stable crack growth). In order to verify the assumed cohesive law to be suitable for ductile fracture processes, experimental records are used as control curves for the numerical simulations. For a constant separation traction, determined experimentally from tension test data, the corresponding cohesive energy was determined by finite element calculations. It is confirmed that the cohesive zone model can be used to characterize a single ductile fracture mode and is roughly independent of stable crack extention. Both the cohesive traction and the cohesive fracture energy should be material specific parameters. The extension of the cohesive zone is restricted to a very small region near the crack tip and is in the order of the physical fracture process. Based on the present observations, the cohesive zone model is a promising criterion to characterize ductile fracture.