Assessment of Crack Stability in a Quasi-brittle Particle Composite

Fracture behaviour of a crack in a particle (silicate based) composite is studied. The crack propagation depends not only on mutual elastic mismatch of matrix and aggregate but also the influence of the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) between the matrix and the aggregate is discussed. Various combinations of materials and geometry of matrix, aggregate and ITZ can improve or degrade fracture properties of the composite. Extensive numerical simulations on a basic 3-point-bending cracked specimen via the finite element method are performed in order to analyze the stress field near the crack tip. Linear elastic fracture mechanics approach is utilized in order to assess the crack stability and summarize several conclusions.