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Fracture of materials with rate-dependent mechanical behaviour, e.g. polymers, is a highly complex process. For an adequate modelling, the coupling between rate-dependent stiffness, dissipative mechanisms present in the bulk material and crack driving force has to be accounted for in an appropriate manner. In addition, the resistance against crack propagation can depend on rate of deformation. In this contribution, an energetic phase-field model of rate-dependent fracture at finite deformation is presented. For the deformation of the bulk material, a formulation of finite viscoelasticity is adopted with strain energy densities of Ogden type assumed. The unified formulation allows to study different expressions for the fracture driving force. Furthermore, a possibly rate-dependent toughness is incorporated. The model is calibrated using experimental results from the literature for an elastomer and predictions are qualitatively and quantitatively validated against experimental data. Predictive capabilities of the model are studied for monotonic loads as well as creep fracture. Symmetrical and asymmetrical crack patterns are discussed and the influence of a dissipative fracture driving force contribution is analysed. It is shown that, different from ductile fracture of metals, such a driving force is not required for an adequate simulation of experimentally observable crack paths and is not favourable for the description of failure in viscoelastic rubbery polymers. Furthermore, the influence of a rate-dependent toughness is discussed by means of a numerical study. From a phenomenological point of view, it is demonstrated that rate-dependency of resistance against crack propagation can be an essential ingredient for the model when specific effects such as rate-dependent brittle-to-ductile transitions shall be described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deformation of soft polymeric materials often involves complex nonlinear or transient mechanical behaviors. This is due to the dynamic behaviors of polymer chains at the molecular level within the polymer network. In this paper, we present a computational formulation to describe the transient behavior (e.g., viscoelasticity) of soft polymer networks with dynamic bonds undergoing large to extreme deformation. This formulation is based on an Eulerian description of kinematics and a theoretical framework that directly connects the molecular-level kinetics of dynamic bonds to the macroscopic mechanical behavior of the material. An extended finite element method is used to discretize the field variables and the governing equations in an axisymmetric domain. In addition to validating the framework, this model is used to study how the chain dynamics affect the macroscopic response of material as they undergo a combination of flow and elasticity. The problems of cavitation rheology and polymer indentation under extreme deformation are investigated in this context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the finite-deformation viscoelastic modeling for passive myocardium tissue. The formulations established can also be applied to model other fiber-reinforced soft tissue. Based on the morphological structure of the myocardium, a specific free-energy function is constructed to reflect its orthotropicity. After deriving the stress-strain relationships in the simple shear deformation, a genetic algorithm is used to optimally estimate the material parameters of the myocardial constitutive equation. The results show that the proposed myocardial model can well fit the shear experimental data. To validate the viscoelastic model, it is used to predict the creep and the dynamic responses of a cylindrical model of the left ventricle. Upon comparing the results calculated by the proven myocardial elastic model with those by the viscoelastic model, the merits of the latter are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper a purely phenomenological formulation and finite element numerical implementation for quasi-incompressible transversely isotropic and orthotropic materials is presented. The stored energy is composed of distinct anisotropic equilibrated and non-equilibrated parts. The nonequilibrated strains are obtained from the multiplicative decomposition of the deformation gradient. The procedure can be considered as an extension of the Reese and Govindjee framework to anisotropic materials and reduces to such formulation for isotropic materials. The stress-point algorithmic implementation is based on an elastic-predictor viscous-corrector algorithm similar to that employed in plasticity. The consistent tangent moduli for the general anisotropic case are also derived. Numerical examples explain the procedure to obtain the material parameters, show the quadratic convergence of the algorithm and usefulness in multiaxial loading. One example also highlights the importance of prescribing a complete set of stress-strain curves in orthotropic materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]