Numerical modeling of brittle fracture in porous CFC‐materials

Both energy and stress criteria are necessary conditions for fracture but neither the one nor the other is sufficient. A combination of these criteria is proposed in [1]. This combined criterion is used for numerical simulation of crack propagation by the 4‐point bending test in porous materials. Examples of such materials are carbon‐carbon composites (CFC) [2, 3]. Micrographs of the cross‐sections of these materials are used for FEM modeling of the crack propagation on the basis of the proposed criterion. Results of the numerical modeling are compared with experimental results. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)