Particle cracking in discretely reinforced materials with the Voronoi Cell finite element model

In this paper, a two dimensional small deformation Voronoi Cell finite element model is developed to model damage in heterogeneous materials by particle cracking or splitting. It incorporates a ductile elastic-plastic matrix material containing an arbitrary dispersion of brittle elastic inclusions. Inclusions may be of arbitrary shapes and sizes. Damage initiation by micro-cracking or splitting of the inclusions is assumed to follow a maximum principal stress theory or Rankine criterion. Complete particle cracking or splitting is assumed at the onset of damage. The model accounts for progressive particle fracture in complex microstructures without any user interference. Various microstructural morphologies are simulated to verify the effectiveness of the model. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.