Particulate Composite Damage: Numerical Estimation of Micro-Crack Propagation Direction

Abstract

In recent years, particle reinforced composites are widely used due their mechanical properties as construction materials, high-performance engineering materials or protective organic coatings. The paper was mainly focused on the estimating of the interactions of the micro-crack and the particles in the particulate polymer composites. A non-linear material behavior of the matrix was obtained from the experiment and it was used to investigation by means of the finite element method - using ANSYS software. A two-dimensional numerical model was developed and a micro-crack propagation direction was calculated based on the assumption of the linear elastic fracture mechanics. The results indicated that the presence of the interphase between particle and matrix can improve the fracture toughness of the polymer particle composites through debonding process. The paper can contribute to a better understanding of the behavior and failure of the composites with the polymer matrix reinforced by the rigid particles.