A Numerical Simulation of Effects of Softening and Heterogeneity on the Stress Intensity Factor of Quasi-Brittle Material

A numerical approach to simulate the crack initiation and propagation process of the nonlinear fracture behavior of the quasi-brittle materials under tensile loading is presented. The nonlinear fracture of Mode I of quasi-brittle material is analyzed by considering the effects of microscopic softening rate and heterogeneity. The results show that the softening rate and the heterogeneity of quasi-brittle material affect the values of stress intensity factor K I . The softening index affects merely the size of the plastic zones while the heterogeneity causes the more sophisticated response of quasi-brittle materials.