A Phasefield Model for Combined Brittle and Ductile Fracture in a Heterogeneous Domain

ABSTRACT This contribution presents a phasefield approach to simulating combined brittle and ductile fracture in a materially heterogeneous domain consisting of a ductile 100Cr6 steel matrix and various non‐metallic, brittle inclusions. The matrix subdomain is modeled with von Mises plasticity with linear isotropic hardening, while the inclusions are assumed to stay in the linear elastic range. Plane strain and 3D simulations of uni‐axial tension and contact loading show the brittle inclusion subdomains as preferred loci for crack nucleation, in qualitative agreement with experimental data for cyclically loaded industrial bearings.