A fracture mechanics model for a crack problem of functionally graded materials with stochastic mechanical properties

This study aimed to develop a method to build a ‘bridge’ between the macro fracture mechanics model and stochastic micromechanics-based properties so that the macro fracture mechanics model can be expanded to the fracture mechanics problem of functionally graded materials (FGMs) with stochastic mechanical properties. An analytical fracture mechanics model is developed to predict the stress intensity factors (SIFs) in FGMs with stochastic uncertainties in phase volume fractions. Considering the stochastic description of the phase volume fractions, a micromechanics-based method is developed to derive the explicit probabilistic characteristics of the effective properties of the FGMs so that the stochastic mechanical properties can be combined with the macro fracture mechanics model. A thought for choosing the samples efficiently is proposed so that the stable probabilistic characteristic of SIFs can be obtained with a very small sample size. The probability density function of SIFs can be determined by developing a histogram from the generated samples. The present method may provide a thought to establish an analytical model for the crack problems of FGMs with stochastic properties.