Applying the crack-layer concept to modeling of slow crack growth in polyethylene

The crack-layer model provides a framework for modeling fracture growth and lifetime prediction. In the past two decades, it has been applied to model brittle fracture in a number of engineering materials. This paper demonstrates in-detail procedure of implementation of crack-layer framework, on the example of slow crack growth in a commercial high-density polyethylene under creep conditions. First, we compute crack-layer driving forces by finite element method and determine experimentally the basic material parameters entering constitutive equations of the model. Then, we develop a numerical simulator of fracture growth.