The investigation of failure in brittle materials, subjected to dynamic transient loading conditions, represents one of the ongoing challenges in the mechanics community. Progresses on this front are required to support the design of engineering components which are employed in applications involving extreme operational regimes. To this purpose, this thesis is devoted to the development of a framework which provides the capabilities to model how crack patterns form and evolve in brittle materials and how they affect the quantitative description of failure. The proposed model is developed within the context of diffusive interfaces which are at the basis of a new class of theories named phase field models. In this work, a set of additional features is proposed to expand their domain of applicability to the modelling of (i) rate and (ii) pressure dependent effects. The path towards the achievement of the first goal has been traced on the desire to account for micro-inertia effects associated with high rates of loading. Pressure dependency has been addressed by postulating a mode-of-failure transition law whose scaling depends upon the local material triaxiality. The governing equations have been derived within a thermodynamically-consistent framework supplemented by the employment of a micro-forces balance approach. The numerical implementation has been carried out within an updated lagrangian finite element scheme with explicit time integration. A series of benchmarks will be provided to appraise the model capabilities in predicting rate-pressure-dependent crack initiation and propagation. Results will be compared against experimental evidences which closely resemble the boundary value problems examined in this work. Concurrently, the design and optimization of a complimentary, improved, experimental characterization platform, based on the split Hopkinson pressure bar, will be presented as a mean for further validation and calibration.

The thesis is focused on the prediction of the fracture toughness temperature dependence through a universal curve of fracture toughness (also known as the master curve). To determine the parameters of the universal curve of fracture toughness, values acquired from the measurement results of fracture toughness and tensile tests of structural steel P91 are used. The theoretical part is based on a summary of the relevant information from the field of fracture mechanics and brittle-ductile fracture behavior of steels that are important for the understanding of fracture-strain response of materials depending on load conditions. The experimental part of the thesis contains the results from practical measurements and analyses, which were used for determining the parameters of a universal curve of fracture toughness as well as for the evaluation of fracture behavior and description of the impact of structural parameters on this behavior in case of steel P91.

Der Small-Punch-Test (SPT) ist eine vielversprechende minimalinvasive mechanische Prüfmethode, wenn nur sehr wenig Material für Proben zur Verfügung steht. Die vorliegende Arbeit hat das Ziel, aus Small-Punch-Kleinstproben wahre Materialparameter der elastisch-plastischen Verformung und des spröden Versagens zu bestimmen. Die Kraft-Verschiebungs-Kurve des Versuchs stellt die nichtlineare Materialantwort der inhomogen beanspruchten Probe dar. Das inverse Problem der Identifikation konstitutiver Materialparameter wird numerisch mit Hilfe von Finite-Elemente-Simulationen in Verbindung mit einem Response-Surface-Modell und nichtlinearer Optimierungsverfahren gelöst, indem die Abweichung zwischen gemessener und simulierter Kurve minimiert wird. Mit Hilfe einer eigens entwickelten Kühlapparatur wurden Versuche mit ferritischen Stählen von Raumtemperatur bis hinunter zu -191°C durchgeführt und die temperaturabhängigen Fließkurven identifiziert. Bei tiefen Temperaturen wurden die Weibull-Parameter der zufällig streuenden Sprödbruchfestigkeit bestimmt und die Bruchzähigkeitsverteilung durch Simulation einer CT-Probe vorhergesagt. Für eine Aluminiumoxidkeramik wurden ebenfalls die Weibull-Parameter bestimmt sowie mit Indenterrissen versehene Proben zur Abschätzung der Bruchzähigkeit verwendet. / The small punch test (SPT) is a promising minimally invasive material testing method, especially in cases where only small amounts of material are available. This thesis is aimed at identifying true material parameters of elastic-plastic deformation and brittle fracture. The load-displacement curve of the test represents the non-linear material response of the nonuniformly stressed specimen. The identification of material parameters of constitutive laws is an inverse problem, which is solved numerically. Finite element simulations together with a response surface model and nonlinear optimization techniques are applied to minimize the error between measured and simulated curves. A specially developed cooling apparatus was used to perform tests with ferritic steels from room temperature down to -191°C. The temperature dependent yield stresses and hardening curves were identified. At low temperatures the Weibull parameters of randomly distributed cleavage fracture strength were estimated. The fracture toughness distribution was then predicted by the help of a finite element simulation of a CT specimen. Furthermore the Weibull parameters of an alumina ceramic were determined and its fracture toughness was predicted using specimens prepared with indentation cracks.

The presented dissertation thesis is focused, as the title suggests, on the analysis of stress state aspects of quasi-brittle fracture. That means the fracture of composite materials with cement matrix (such as concrete, mortar, plaster, etc.), ceramics and other composites. Used methods are based on the theory of multi-parameter linear elastic fracture mechanics, which highlights the importance of considering of several initial terms of Williams power series, approximating the stress and displacement fields in a cracked body, within conducted fracture analyses. Determination of values of coefficients of terms of this series, recalculated into the shape functions serving in most of the conducted stress state analyses, is performed via the so called over-deterministic method. Another tool for the problem solving is nonlinear fracture mechanics, represented primarily by the cohesive crack model, namely the crack band model implemented in the used ATENA software. For the backward reconstruction of stress field in the cracked bodies the application ReFraPro is used. The analytical part deals with various aspects of wedge-splitting test – from the boundary conditions, though various possibilities of nodal selection (required as input variables for the over-deterministic method) up to the advanced (automated) analysis of numerical model. Special chapter includes atypical test specimens designed for adjusting of various levels of constraint of stress and deformation at the propagating crack tip. The study of this geometry and also the subsequent detail analysis reveals important information for real experiments. Backward reconstruction of stress field presents analysis on suitable possibilities of nodal selections as inputs into the procedure of approximation of the crack tip fields and answers the question of the necessity of application of the multi-parameter linear elastic fracture mechanics for certain fracture analyses of specimens from quasi-brittle materials. The th

The realistic approximation of structural behavior in a post fracture state by the phase-field method requires information about the spatial orientation of the crack surface at the material point level. For the directional phase-field split, this orientation is specified by the crack orientation vector, that is defined perpendicular to the crack surface. An alternative approach to the determination of the orientation based on standard fracture mechanical arguments, i.e. in alignment with the direction of the largest principle tensile strain or stress, is investigated by considering the amount of dissipated strain energy density during crack evolution. In contrast to the application of gradient methods, the analytical approach enables the determination of all local maxima of strain energy density dissipation and, in consequence, the identification of the global maximum, that is assumed to govern the orientation of an evolving crack. Furthermore, the evaluation of the local maxima provides a novel aspect in the discussion of the phenomenon of crack branching. As the directional split differentiates into crack driving contributions of tension and shear stresses on the crack surface, a consistent relation to Mode I and Mode II fracture is available and a mode dependent fracture toughness can be considered. Consequently, the realistic simulation of rock-like fracture is demonstrated. In addition, a numerical investigation of Ƭ-convergence for an AT-2 type crack surface density is presented in a two-dimensional setup. For the directional split, also the issues internal locking as well as lateral phase-field evolution are addressed.

The aim of the thesis is the investigation of fracture-mechanics parameters on specimens made of quasi-brittle materials. The principles of two-parameter fracture mechanics are used. Couple of numerical simulations were done and their outputs are used for two main analysed specimen geometries. For simulations the finite element method software ANSYS is used. In the first part, the thesis focuses on bended specimens. The influence of different geometric parameters on fracture mechanics behaviour of cracked specimen is investigated. For model calibration the outputs of other authors are used. In the second part the specimens for modified compact-tension test (CT test) are analysed. Similar to the first part, the influence of geometric parameters of the specimen (in this case, the specimen size) on fracture mechanics parameters were investigated. The modified CT test was derived from CT test which is commonly used for metal materials testing as the suitable geometry for cement-based composite materials testing. The outputs of both parts are calibration polynomials, which are expressions obtained for different specimen geometries, giving the value of fracture mechanics parameter as the function of specimen geometry. As the example, calibration curves are used to obtain fracture toughness of tested material using the outputs from recent experiment.