Predicting fracture and fragmentation in ceramic using a thermo-mechanical basis

In this paper, the corrective smoothed particle method (CSPM) numerical algorithm as a modification of traditional SPH particle method has been employed to predict fracture and fragmentation in ceramics using a thermo-mechanical basis under hypervelocity impact conditions. In order to study the brittle behavior in ceramic, the JHB computational constitutive model which considers phase transition in a solid continuum has been applied. An appropriate heat conduction equation has been coupled with the Johnson-Cook yield criteria in order to get more accurate temperature field especially in impact zone which consequently gives a more exact solution in such problems coming with highly produced magnitude of pressure and temperature in the material. It has been shown that implementation of the CSPM scheme with a thermo-mechanical basis can predict the brittle fracture and fragmentation in ceramics under hyper velocity impact conditions. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.