AN AUGMENTED PHASE-FIELD MODEL WITH VISCOUS STRESSES FOR DEFECT DYNAMICS

This work begins by applying phase-field modeling to predict 1-d interface motion with inertia in an elastic solid with a non-monotone stress-strain response. In classical nonlinear elasticity, it is known that subsonic interfaces require a kinetic law, in addition to momentum balance, to obtain unique solutions; in contrast, for supersonic interfaces, momentum balance alone is sufficient to provide unique solutions. However, conventional phase-field models coupled to elastodynamics are unable to model, even qualitatively, the supersonic motion of interfaces. This work identifies the shortcomings in the physics of standard phase-field models to be: (1) the absence of higher-order stress to balance unphysical stress singularities, and (2) the ability of the model to access unphysical regions of the energy landscape.
This work then proposes an augmented phase-field model to introduce the missing physics. The augmented model adds: (1) a viscous stress to the momentum balance, in addition to the dissipative phase-field evolution, to regularize singularities; and (2) an augmented driving force that models the physical mechanism that keeps the system out of unphysical regions of the energy landscape. When coupled to elastodynamics, the augmented model correctly describes both subsonic and supersonic interface motion. This augmented model was then used for fracture simulations.
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