Numerical analysis of ductile failure of undermatched interleaf in tension

Ductile failure of an interleaf tension specimen consisting of a metal interleaf bonded between two elastic substrates, with a crack located in the centre of the metal, is studied by means of detailed finite element (FE) analyses. The rate-independent version of the Gurson model is used. This accounts for ductile failure mechanisms of micro-void nucleation, growth and coalescence within the framework of a finite deformation plasticity theory. Also, the rapid evolution of void density due to coalescence, which leads to ultimate failure, is considered. The effect of the interleaf thickness on failure (crack initiation and limited amount of crack growth) is investigated. The results show that the interleaf thickness affects crack initiation only slightly. For all specimens considered, crack initiation takes place at the crack tip. However, after crack initiation, the interleaf thickness affects stress and strain distributions significantly. Reducing the interleaf thickness significantly increases the load-carrying capacity. Moreover, reducing the interleaf thickness increases the maximum hydrostatic stress in the interleaf, which is no longer developed at the crack tip but at a distance far away from the crack tip. The resulting fracture toughness thus decreases as the interleaf thickness decreases. The shielding of the crack tip due to constrained plasticity is observed at higher load levels for interleaf specimens. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.