PSI - Issue 58

P.C. Sidharth et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 58 (2024) 115–121 P.C. Sidharth and B.N. Rao/ Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2019) 000–000

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3.2. Cracking of alumina/zirconia FG plate under shear In this section, we comprehensively analyze shear-induced fracture behavior in an alumina/zirconia functionally graded (FG) plate. Our focus is to understand the mechanisms of secondary fracture. We extend our previous discussion on plate geometry and properties. Fracture predictions are made using both linear finite element (LFE) and exponential finite element (EFE) shape functions on a 14,000-element coarse mesh. EFE shape functions are particularly important due to the complex curvilinear crack patterns. Results from EFE simulations are compared to those from LFE simulations in terms of crack path, peak load, corresponding displacement, and computational time. The crack paths forecasted by EFE shape functions closely mirror those predicted by LFE shape functions. Remarkably, the crack path predictions from both LFE and EFE shape functions on the coarse mesh sample show only minimal deviations compared to finer mesh predictions. Additionally, load-displacement responses anticipated with EFE on the coarse mesh display enhanced accuracy compared to LFE predictions under similar conditions, closely aligning with converged solutions from finer mesh simulations. Crucially, the computational time required for EFE is only marginally higher than that for LFE, resulting in minimal force response errors.

Fig. 3. Force response versus displacement plots of alumina-zirconia functionally graded plate; (a) FGMX, (b) FGMY, (c) FGMYR, and (d) FGMXY.

Fig. 4. Alumina/zirconia FG plate; Boundary conditions and crack propagation path for the specimen loaded in shear. The simulation uses adaptive mesh refinement scheme. The crack path matches the one available in literature.