Peridynamics based model of anticrack-type fracture in brittle foams

Abstract A particular failure mode of highly porous brittle materials consists in the propagation of cracks under uniaxial compressive loads. Such ’anticracks’ have been observed in a range of materials, from snow and porous sandstone to brittle foams. Here we present a computational model for the formation and propagation of anticrack-type failure in porous materials within the general computational framework of bond-based peridynamics. Random porosity is represented, on a scale well above the characteristic pore size, by random bond deletion (dilution disorder). We apply our framework to experimental data on anticrack propagation in silicate foams.