Pressure-sensitive ductile layers – II. 3D models of extensive damage

The mechanisms of void growth and coalescence in ductile polymeric layers, taking into account the effects of pressure-sensitivity, α, and plastic dilatancy, β, are explored in this two-part paper. In Part I, a two-dimensional model containing discrete cylindrical voids was used to simulate void growth and coalescence ahead of a crack. This paper extends the previous work by explicitly modeling initially spherical voids in a three-dimensional configuration. Damage predictions from the present 3D model for low yield strain adhesives are found to be in good agreement with both the 2D model in Part I and the computational cell element model. Significant discrepancies in the damage predictions, however, exist among all three models for high yield strain adhesives (e.g. polymers). The present 3D study also discusses the increasing damage level and its spatial extent with pressure-sensitivity, as well as the exacerbation of these effects arising from the deviation from an associated flow rule. In fact, both high porosity and high pressure-sensitivity promote void interaction. In addition, pressure-sensitivity increases the oblacity of the voids and reduces the intervoid ligament spacing over a wide range of load levels. These effects are compounded as the fracture process zone thickness decreases relative to the adhesive thickness. Results further show that both the adhesive toughness levels and the critical porosity governing the onset of void coalescence are significantly lowered with increasing pressure-sensitivity.