The computational study of crack growth process in defected polymethyl methacrylate/hydroxyapatite composite beam: peridynamic simulation

Abstract

The presence of cracks in structural materials can be attributed to a wide array of factors. Gaining a comprehensive understanding of the underlying influences on crack formation in solid structures holds significant implications for the development of efficient industrial equipment. In the present computational investigation, we employ the peridynamic method to characterize the crack growth process in polymethyl methacrylate/hydroxyapatite beams. This particle-based simulation encompasses two fundamental steps. Initially, a modeled composite is brought to equilibrium under standard conditions, followed by an in-depth analysis of the crack growth phenomenon after subjecting the target structure to impact tests at three distinct velocities. The present investigation aims to quantitatively assess a range of physical parameters, such as crack length, repulsive force, relative bond length, potential energy, and damage criterion, to provide a comprehensive characterization of the crack growth process in polymethyl methacrylate/hydroxyapatite-based samples. The computational tool utilized for conducting the peridynamic simulations is the Large Scale Atomic/Molecular Massively Parallel Simulator (LAMMPS). The findings from the peridynamic analysis demonstrate a clear association between the ratio of hydroxyapatite and the resulting crack length in the sample, which consequently leads to heightened brittleness and a decrease in mechanical strength. The crack length ratio reaches a measurement of 9.09 mm when the beam under consideration contains 15% hydroxyapatite. The observed behavior can be ascribed to a reduction in the attractive forces acting between the constituent particles present in the sample. The numerical findings derived from this investigation possess significant implications for the development of mechanically robust composites in practical contexts.