An efficient phase-field model of shear fractures using deviatoric stress split

We propose a phase-field model of shear fractures using the deviatoric stress decomposition. This choice allows us to use general three-dimensional Mohr-Coulomb's failure function for formulating the relations and evaluating peak and residual stresses. We apply the model to a few benchmark problems of shear fracture and strain localization and report remarkable performance. Our model is able to capture conjugate failure modes under biaxial compression test and for the slope stability problem, a challenging task for most models of geomechanics.

Automated summary

We introduce a phase-field model that utilizes the deviatoric stress decomposition to represent shear fractures. This approach allows us to incorporate the general three-dimensional Mohr-Coulomb failure function for establishing relationships and evaluating peak and residual stresses. Our model demonstrates impressive performance in several benchmark problems involving shear fracture and strain localization. It successfully captures the conjugate failure modes during biaxial compression tests and addresses the challenging slope stability problem faced by most geomechanics models.