A cohesive model with frictional effects on strength and stiffness under transverse compression

Abstract

Failure develops and propagates through a structure via a complex sequence of competing micro-mechanisms occurring simultaneously. While the active mechanism of surface debonding is the source of loss of stiffness and cohesion, friction between cracked surfaces, upon their closure, acts as a passive dissipation mechanism behind the quasi-brittleness and hence can increase the toughness of the material under favorable loading conditions. In order to numerically study damage propagation, the constitutive response must be able to faithfully capture, both qualitatively and quantitatively, one of the signature characteristic of failure: the energy dissipation. In this paper, we present an interface decohesive model for discrete fracture that is able to capture the apparent enhancement of interfacial properties that is observed when transverse compressive loads are applied. The model allows to seamlessly account for the additional frictional dissipation that occurs when the loading regime involves transverse compression, whether during debonding or after full delamination. This constitutive model is then used to successfully predict the response of realistic engineering structures under generalized loading conditions as demonstrated with the numerical simulation of a fiber push-out test.