Phase-field modeling of interfacial fracture in quasicrystal composites

Abstract

Quasicrystals (QCs) have been used as a particle reinforcement phase in polymer or metal matrix composites to enhance the material strength, hardness and wear resistance while maintaining the lightweight advantages of the composites. In this paper, a phase-field fracture model (PFM) is proposed to predict crack propagation and interfacial debonding in QC composites. The phase-field and interface-field variables are introduced to regularize the cracks and interfaces in the composites, respectively. An equivalent critical energy release rate is introduced to characterize the influence of the interface on crack propagation. The present model is numerically implemented in Comsol Multiphysics based on the Weak Form PDE module. Several numerical examples are simulated to demonstrate the ability of the proposed model to predict crack propagation and interfacial failure of QC composites and to analyze the influence of QC reinforcement phase on fracture behaviors of QC composites. Numerical results indicate that the interface significantly influences the crack propagation paths, and the phason elastic field has a remarkable influence on the peak force and failure displacement in the fracture test of QC composites. The developed phase-field model and numeral implementation approach provide a convenient tool for predicting interfacial failure and assessing the safety of QC composites in engineering.