Global Prediction of Discrete Local Damage Interactions Using Broadband Dielectric Spectroscopy

Abstract

With the increasing demand for composites in many modern applications, it is important to predict the initiation of failure events. Due to the heterogeneous nature of these materials, a single damage mode will not lead to final failure, hence detecting the initiation and growth of a single crack (defect) will not yield accurate predictions of the strength or the material state. It is important to capture the interaction of various damage modes that tend to change the material state leading to initiation of failure. To assess the material state, one needs to determine the appropriate global physical variables that can capture the interaction of local damage events that lead to progressive degradation of materials. In the recent past, various researchers have turned towards the application of vector electric fields that can interact with various local damage events created by single or multiple loading events. Broadband Dielectric Spectroscopy (BbDS) is one such robust technique that can predict the interaction of such local events. In the current research, Regularized Extended Finite Element Method (Rx-FEM), which allows modeling displacement discontinuities _____________