The experimental and numerical study of fracture behavior of 58s bioactive glass/polysulfone composite using the extended finite elements method

Abstract

Abstract The composites derived from the bioactive glasses, such as BG/polysulfone, have better mechanical properties and their characteristics are closer to human bone. In this paper, the fracture behavior of 58s BG/PSF composite has been investigated. The extended finite elements method (XFEM) was used as an alternative numerical method to the FEM, in order to model the fracture behavior of 58s BG/PSF composite with greater accuracy. The XFEM doesn’t require remeshing at each step and achieves the precise approximation of singularities by incorporating discontinuity behavior into the elements using enrichment functions. The aim of using the XFEM was to obtain stress intensity factors, displacements, stress and strain around the crack tip, fracture toughness as well as strain energy release rate of BG/polymer composite. Moreover, the 58s BG/PSF composite with 30% volume ratio of bioactive glass particles was synthesized using solvent casting method. Meanwhile, the SEM micrographs were prepared, and the fracture mechanic tests were accomplished based on ASTM D5045 standard test method. The obtained fracture toughness was in the range of 1.4 to 1.6 MPa m , and the strain energy release rate is in the range of 1600 to 1900 J.m−2, which is comparable to the same properties of natural human bone. Also, the stress intensity factors and strain energy release rates were calculated by coding in MATLAB and modeling in ABAQUS, and the numerical results were validated with the analytical and experimental results.