Techn. Universiẗat, Diss., 2003--Braunschweig.

Zugl.: Siegen, Univ., Diss., 2009

Techn. Hochsch., Diss., 2004--Aachen.

Techn. Universiẗat, Diss., 2006--Darmstadt.

Das Promotionsthema war die numerische Untersuchung des Einflusses der mechanisch induzierten martensitischen Phasenumwandlung auf das Bruchverhalten hochlegierter TRIP-Stähle. Die Analyse der Spannungsfelder vor einer abstumpfenden Rissspitze hat ergeben, dass die Phasenumwandlung zu höheren rissöffnenden Spannungen führt. Außerdem wurden charakteristische Spannungsverläufe mit Wendepunkten beobachtet. Für duktiles Versagen wurde ein positiver Einfluss der Phasenumwandlung geschlussfolgert, da die umwandlungsinduzierte Verfestigung das Porenwachstum in der Bruchprozesszone erschwert. Dies wurde an Hand mikromechanischer Simulationen der duktilen Rissausbreitung demonstriert. Im Rahmen der Theorie materieller Kräfte konnte eine abschirmende Wirkung des TRIP-Effekts auf die Rissspitze nachgewiesen werden. Durch Phasenumwandlung wird Arbeit dissipiert, die nicht mehr für Rissfortschritt verfügbar ist. Die energetische Triebkraft für Risswachstum wird demzufolge reduziert. Die Rissausbreitung im TRIP-Stahl wurde mit einer Kohäsivzone modelliert. Die Parameter des Kohäsivzonenmodells charakterisieren den Bruchprozess und konnten unter Verwendung experimenteller Daten identifiziert werden. Um zukünftig die Rolle der Phasenumwandlung bei Ermüdungsrisswachstum untersuchen zu können, wurde ein Materialmodell für TRIP-Stähle unter zyklischer Beanspruchung entwickelt. Die erforderlichen Materialparameter wurden mit Hilfe der Daten aus Wechselverformungsversuchen bestimmt. / This thesis is focused on the numerical investigation of the fracture behavior of high alloy austenitic TRIP-steels and especially on the effect of mechanically induced martensitic phase transformation. The analysis of stress fields in front of a blunting crack tip has shown that phase transformation leads to higher crack opening stresses. Additionally, characteristic courses of the stress components with inflection points were observed. A positive influence of phase transformation on ductile fracture was concluded, because transformation induced hardening retards void growth in the fracture process zone. This was demonstrated by micromechanical simulations of ductile crack extension. In order to investigate the shielding effect of phase transformation on the crack tip, the theory of material forces was applied. Mechanical work is dissipated due to the TRIP-effect, which is no longer available for crack growth. Hence, the energetic driving force for fracture is reduced. Furthermore, crack extension is modeled with a cohesive zone. The parameters of the cohesive zone model, which characterize the fracture process, are identified based on experimental data. In future work the role of phase transformation during fatigue crack growth should by studied. Therefore, a material model for TRIP-steels under cyclic loading was developed. The associated material parameters were estimated based on the results of cyclic deformation experiments.

The impact of temperatures (up to 1000 °C) with various heating rates of 5 °C/min, 200 °C/min, 300 °C/min, and according to ISO 834 standard fire curve on physical, mechanical, and thermal properties, as well as thermo-mechanical behaviors of granites were investigated. A new methodology was proposed for the heterogeneity characterization of rocks at the grain-size level in numerical simulation. The thermo-mechanical constitutive law is developed by combining the temperature-dependent relations of granite properties with classical Mohr-Coulomb model with strain-softening and tension cut-off. The proposed modelling strategy is able to replicate the thermal induced cracking which results in reduced peak strength, pronounced softening and transition from brittle to ductile behaviour. Research results help to understand the damage mechanisms of granite caused by fire or other high temperature conditions, and can be used to develop guidelines for repair and maintenance as well as assessment of risks of tunnels and historical buildings after fire accidents.

The time-independent and -dependent damage characteristics of brittle rocks inside the pre-failure range have been investigated using numerical simulations and lab testing. Grain-based discrete element models have been developed to simulate both, time-independent and -dependent damage evolution leading to ultimate failure of sandstone and granite, respectively. The models take into account elastic grain and elasto-plastic contact deformation, inter- and intra-granular fracturing and lifetime prediction on the basis of subcritical crack growth. The time-independent mechanical behavior of Coconino sandstone and Lac du Bonnet granite during uniaxial compression tests, Brazilian splitting tests and fracture toughness tests was simulated. Triaxial compression tests and fracture toughness tests for Kirchberg II granite and fracture patterns tests for Eibenstock II granite were carried out in laboratory to perform time-independent damage and failure criterion analysis. The corresponding simulations showed reasonable damage phenomena compared with experimental results. Damage indices were deduced and were applied for different time-independent simulations. Based on calibrations of the time-independent damage simulations of selected brittle rocks, Charles equation and Hillig-Charles equation, which are generally used to describe subcritical crack growth, were implemented into the numerical code to simulate time-dependent damage. One-edged crack growth in Coconino sandstone specimen due to stress corrosion has been analyzed theoretically and numerically. Uniaxial compressive creep tests for Lac du Bonnet granite were simulated and time-dependent behavior in terms of the damage process during primary, secondary and tertiary creep until final failure characterized by macroscopic fracturing was discussed in detail. Subsequent to this, the time-dependent Mode-I crack growth tests and uniaxial compressive creep tests for Kirchberg II granite were carried out and the corresponding simulations were performed. Simulation results are in good agreement with experimental observations. In addition, damage indices and time-dependent fracture development were monitored and illustrated. The developed approach was applied to two potential practical applications: the damage analysis of a sandstone landscape arch and a tunnel. Finally, the results are summarized and recommendations for future work are proposed.

Die vorliegende Arbeit umfasst die Entwicklung und Implementierung eines nichtlokalen duktilen Schädigungsmodells, die Anwendung von Verfahren zur Bestimmung von Materialparametern aus Versuchsdaten sowie die Berechnung von bruchmechanischen Kennwerten im spröd-duktilen Übergangsbereich durch die numerische Simulation von Bruchmechanikversuchen unter Verwendung der ermittelten Parameter. Das entwickelte nichtlokale duktile Schädigungsmodell basiert auf dem Modell nach Gurson-Tvergaard-Needleman (GTN). Durch die Einführung eines zusätzlichen Längenparameters mittels einer impliziten Gradientenformulierung wird die Netzabhängigkeit des GTN-Modells eliminiert. Zur Lösung des nunmehr gekoppelten Feldproblems wird das nichtlokale Schädigungsmodell in Form eines benutzerdefinierten Elements in ein Finite-Elemente-Programm implementiert. Zur Parameterbestimmung werden Kraft-Verschiebungs-Kurven des Small-Punch-Tests (SPT), einem Kleinstprobenversuch, ausgewertet. Aufgrund des sehr geringen Materialbedarfs für die Herstellung der benötigten SPT-Proben werden Rest- bzw. Bruchstücke von Charpy-Tests weiterverwendet. Es werden zwei ferritische Reaktorstähle im bestrahlten und unbestrahlten Zustand untersucht. Die Versuchsreihen decken den vollständigen Bereich der Zähigkeit beider Stähle ab. Die Bestimmung von Bruchzähigkeiten erfolgt nach dem Konzept des Local Approach allein durch numerische Berechnung des Spannungs- und Verformungszustandes in Bruchmechanikproben. Hierbei werden die zuvor aus dem SPT bestimmten Fließkurven und Schädigungsparameter verwendet. Die berechneten Bruchzähigkeiten werden mit experimentellen Ergebnissen verglichen. / This work comprises the development and implementation of a non-local ductile damage model, the application of methods for the identification of material parameters from experimental data as well as the calculation of fracture mechanics parameters in the brittle-ductile transition zone through numerical simulations of fracture mechanical tests using the identified parameters. The developed non-local ductile damage model is based on the Gurson-Tvergaard-Needleman model (GTN). The pathological mesh sensitivity of the GTN model is eliminated by introducing an additional length parameter by means of an implicit gradient formulation. To solve the coupled field problem, the non-local damage model is implemented in a finite element program in the form of a userdefined element. Force-displacement-curves of the small punch test (SPT), a miniaturised test, are evaluated for the determination of material parameters. Given the modest material requirements for the preparation of the required samples remnants of Charpy-specimens are reused. Two ferritic reactor steels, both irradiated and unirradiated, are examined. The experiments cover the full brittle-ductile transition region of the steels. Following the concept of the Local Approach, fracture toughness values are determined by numerical calculation of the stress and deformation state in fracture mechanics specimen only. Here, the yield curves and damage parameters previously determined from the SPT are used. The calculated fracture toughness values are compared with experimental results.

‘Coupled process’ implies that one process affects the initiation and progress of the others and vice versa. The deformation and damage behaviors of rock under loading process change the fluid flow field within it, and lead to altering in permeable characteristics; on the other side inner fluid flow leads to altering in pore pressure and effective stress of rock matrix and flow by influencing stress strain behavior of rock. Therefore, responses of rock to natural or man-made perturbations cannot be predicted with confidence by considering each process independently. As far as hydro-mechanical behavior of rock is concerned, the researchers have always been making efforts to develop the model which can represent the permeable characteristics as well as stress-strain behaviors during the entire damage process. A brittle low porous granite was chosen as the study object in this thesis, the aim is to establish a corresponding constitutive law including the relation between permeability evolution and mechanical deformation as well as the rock failure behavior under hydro-mechanical coupled conditions based on own hydro-mechanical coupled lab tests. The main research works of this thesis are as follows: 1. The fluid flow and mechanical theoretical models have been reviewed and the theoretical methods to solve hydro-mechanical coupled problems of porous medium such as flow equations, elasto-plastic constitutive law, and Biot coupled control equations have been summarized. 2. A series of laboratory tests have been conducted on the granite from Erzgebirge–Vogtland region within the Saxothuringian segment of Central Europe, including: permeability measurements, ultrasonic wave speed measurements, Brazilian tests, uniaxial and triaxial compression tests. A hydro-mechanical coupled testing system has been designed and used to conduct drained, undrained triaxial compression tests and permeability evolution measurements during complete loading process. A set of physical and mechanical parameters were obtained. 3. Based on analyzing the complete stress-strain curves obtained from triaxial compression tests and Hoek-Brown failure criterion, a modified elemental elasto-plastic constitutive law was developed which can represent strength degradation and volume dilation considering the influence of confining pressure. 4. The mechanism of HM-coupled behavior according to the Biot theory of elastic porous medium is summarized. A trilinear evolution rule for Biot’s coefficient based on the laboratory observations was deduced to eliminate the error in predicting rock strength caused by constant Biot’s coefficient. 5. The permeability evolution of low porous rock during the failure process was described based on literature data and own measurements, a general rule for the permeability evolution was developed for the laboratory scale, a strong linear relation between permeability and volumetrical strain was observed and a linear function was extracted to predict permeability evolution during loading process based on own measurements. 6. By combining modified constitutive law, the trilinear Biot’s coefficient evolution model and the linear relationship between permeability and volumetrical strain, a fully hydro-mechanical coupled numerical simulation scheme was developed and implemented in FLAC3D. A series of numerical simulations of triaxial compression test considering the hydro-mechanical coupling were performed with FLAC3D. And a good agreement was found between the numerical simulation results and the laboratory measurements under 20 MPa confining pressure and 10 MPa fluid pressure, the feasibility of this fully hydro-mechanical coupled model was proven.

The present work describes investigations on the anisotropic strength behavior of rocks in the splitting tensile test (Brazilian test). Three transversely isotropic rocks (gneiss, slate and sandstone) were studied in the Lab. A total of more than 550 indirect tensile strength tests were conducted, with emphasis was placed on the investigation of the influence of the spatial position of anisotropic weakness plane to the direction of the load on the fracture strength and fracture or fracture mode. In parallel, analytical solutions were evaluated for stress distribution and developed 3D numerical models to study the stress distribution and the fracture mode at the transversely isotropic disc. There were new findings on the fracture mode of crack propagation, the influence of the disc thickness, the influence of the applying loading angle and angle of the loading-foliation for transversely isotropic material. / Inhalt der Arbeit sind Untersuchungen zum anisotropen Festigkeitsverhalten von Gesteinen beim Spaltzugversuch (Brazilian Test). Laborativ wurden drei transversalisotrope Gesteine (Granit, Schiefer und Sandstein) untersucht. Insgesamt wurden mehr als 550 Spaltzugversuche durchgeführt, wobei der Schwerpunkt auf die Untersuchung des Einflusses der räumlichen Lage der Anisotropieebene zur Richtung des Lasteintrages auf die Bruchfestigkeit und das Bruchbild bzw. den Bruchmodus gelegt wurde. Parallel dazu wurden analytische Lösungen zur Spannungsverteilung ausgewertet sowie numerische 3D-Modelle entwickelt, um die Spannungsverteilung sowie den Bruchmodus bei einer transversalisotropen Scheibe zu untersuchen. Es wurden neue Erkenntnisse zum Bruchmodus, der Rissausbreitung, des Einflusses der Scheibendicke, dem Einfluss des Lasteinleitungswinkel sowie des Winkels Lasteintrag - Anisotropieebene für transversalisotropes Material gewonnen.