COMPUTATIONAL NON-SMOOTH FRACTURE DYNAMICS INNONLINEAR AND HETEROGENEOUS MATERIALS. APPLICATIONTO FRACTURE OF HYDRIDED ZIRCALOY

摘要

This paper presents a new computational method and the associated software dedicated to the study of thedynamic fracture of nonlinear and heterogeneous materials. This method is based on the concept of FrictionalCohesive Zone Model in the framework of Non-Smooth Contact Dynamics. The associated numerical platform,composed of three object-oriented libraries, allows to simulate, in three dimensional finite deformations, the dynamicfracture of both multiphase and functionally graded materials from crack initiation to post-fracture behavior.The ability of this software, developed by the French 'Institut de Radioprotection et de S?uret′e Nucl′eaire' (IRSN)in the frame of its research program on nuclear fuel safety, is illustrated on the fracture of hydrided Zircaloy-4,constituting nuclear cladding tubes at high burnup, during a reactivity initiated accident (RIA). The macroscopicbehavior of this heterogeneous material is deduced as an averaged energy release rate depending on the volumefraction of hydride phase.