Damage Zone Size Limit During the Crack Propagation

The principal goal of this work is to limit the damage zone length during the crack propagation in brittle materials. This study is based on the determination of stress fields by varying the distance between a semi-infinite crack and a neighboring dislocation. The model suggested is a rectangular element (a dish), having a semi-infinite crack in one of its ends and a dislocation located in the vicinity of a crack-tip, subjected to a tensile stress on mode I. The problem is treated numerically using Finite Element Method.For each distance between the two cracks (semi-infinite crack and dislocation), stress fields are given. On the basis of these stress fields, a limiting damage zone length is obtained.