Fracture analyses of soft materials with hard inclusion

Abstract

This paper presents a detailed study on the fracture behaviors of soft materials with hard inclusion. Stress concentrations on the interfaces of hard and soft materials are considered as the key factor for structure fracture. Based on linear fracture theory, the fracture behaviors of soft materials with elliptical hard inclusion are investigated. Stress concentrations, consisting of tensile, hoop, and compressive stress, are observed with changes of inclusion geometries and the modulus ratio of hard and soft materials. And their influences on the categories of principal stress concentration are shown in a phase diagram in the current paper. Finite element analysis is carried out with consideration of the large deformation of soft material, which demonstrates the effectiveness of the theoretical predictions in a great scope of applied loading. Finally, the predictions based on theoretical and simulation results are validated by experiments. This work points out that the hard line inclusion is the source of danger in soft materials just like the crack in brittle materials.