Multiscale Modeling of Ductile Fracture in Continuum Mechanics

A theoretical framework to describe ductile fracture is reviewed from a multiscale perspective based on continuum solid mechanics. Ductile fracture has a hierarchical multiscale structure from a strain localization of a macroscopic structure to debonding of an atomic debinding. In this article, computational methods founded on continuum approximation are addressed, where discretization methods represented by finite element method are featured. These approaches are recognized as promising tools to understand and visualize the deformation and strengthening mechanisms. Here the concepts of description of fracture mechanics are classified into strong discontinuity models and distributed damage models. Also two types of scale-coupling approaches are illustrated to consider the effect of a microscopic heterogeneity on its coarse scale.