The pseudoelastic effect due to martensitic transformation in polycrystalline shape memory alloys is simulated with a phenomenological constitutive model based on a kinematic hardening framework with a gradient enhancement to regularize moving austenite-to-martensite boundaries that arise in softening materials. This constitutive modeling framework introduces a length scale within the theory which has yet to be deteremined experimentally. Calculations are presented for the evolution of the transformation zone around a stationary crack tip. The calculations uncover the interplay between the length scale associated with the size of the transformation zone around the crack tip and the material length scale inherent to the consistutive model. The calcualtions show that localized “fingers” or “needles” of deformation emenate from the transformation zone at a specific level of the applied stress intensity, which provide a comparison to experimental observations that then can be used to quantify the sie of the material length scale.
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