8/9/2019 SIMULIA User Assistance 2019 - Crack propagation analysis

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Searching the Documentation Crack propagation analysis

Preface
Crack propagation analysis: Related Topics
Legal Notices
allows for six types of fracture criteria in Defining an
Abaqus analysis
Abaqus/Standard—critical stress at a certain
Abaqus/CAE distance ahead of the crack tip, critical crack About fracture
opening displacement, crack length versus
mechanics
Analysis time, VCCT (the Virtual Crack Closure
Technique), enhanced VCCT, and the fatigue Low-cycle fatigue
Analysis Procedures crack growth criterion based on the Paris law; analysis using the
allows for the VCCT fracture criterion in direct cyclic
Analysis Solution and Control Abaqus/Explicit; approach
Analysis Techniques in Abaqus/Standard models quasi-static crack Linear elastic
growth in two dimensions (planar and
fatigue crack
About analysis techniques axisymmetric) for all types of fracture criteria
and in three dimensions (solid, shells, and growth analysis
Analysis Continuation continuum shells) for VCCT, enhanced VCCT,
Techniques and the fatigue crack growth criteria; and In Other Guides
Modeling Abstractions in Abaqus/Explicit models crack growth in two
dimensions (planar and axisymmetric) and in Contact cohesive
three dimensions (solid, shells, and continuum behavior
Special-Purpose
Techniques shells) for VCCT criterion; and *COHESIVE
requires that you define two distinct initially BEHAVIOR
Inertia relief bonded contact surfaces between which the
crack will propagate. *CONTACT
Element and contact pair CLEARANCE
removal and reactivation The following topics are discussed:
*DEBOND
Progressive element Defining initially bonded crack surfaces in
Abaqus/Standard *DIRECT CYCLIC
activation
Activating the crack propagation capability in *FATIGUE
Introducing a geometric Abaqus/Standard
imperfection into a *FRACTURE
Defining and activating crack propagation in
model CRITERION
Abaqus/Explicit
Fracture mechanics Specifying a fracture criterion *NODAL ENERGY
Specifying how a debonding force is released after RATE
About fracture a fracture criterion is met in Abaqus/Standard Defining surface-
mechanics Procedures to-surface contact
Contour integral Initial conditions in an
evaluation Boundary conditions Abaqus/Standard
Loads analysis
Crack propagation
analysis Predefined fields
Material options
Defining initially Elements
bonded crack
Output
surfaces in
Abaqus/Standard Input file template
References
Activating the crack
propagation
capability in Products: Abaqus/Standard Abaqus/Explicit Abaqus/CAE
Abaqus/Standard
Defining and Defining initially bonded crack surfaces in
activating crack
propagation in Abaqus/Standard
Abaqus/Explicit Potential crack surfaces are modeled as slave and master contact surfaces (see
Specifying a fracture About contact pairs in Abaqus/Standard). Any contact formulation except the
criterion finite-sliding, surface-to-surface formulation can be used. The predetermined
crack surfaces are assumed to be initially partially bonded so that the crack tips
Specifying how a can be identified explicitly by Abaqus/Standard. Initially bonded crack surfaces
debonding force is cannot be used with self-contact.
released after a
fracture criterion is Define an initial condition to identify which part of the crack is initially bonded.
met in You specify the slave surface, the master surface, and a node set that identifies
Abaqus/Standard the initially bonded part of the slave surface. The unbonded portion of the slave
surface will behave as a regular contact surface. Either the slave surface or the
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Procedures master surface must be specified; if only the master surface is given, all of the
slave surfaces associated with this master surface that have nodes in the node
Initial conditions set will be bonded at these nodes.
Boundary conditions If a node set is not specified, the initial contact conditions will apply to the
entire contact pair; in this case, no crack tips can be identified, and the bonded
Loads surfaces cannot separate.
Predefined fields If a node set is specified, the initial conditions apply only to the slave nodes in
the node set. Abaqus/Standard checks to ensure that the node set defined
Material options includes only slave nodes belonging to the contact pair specified.
Elements By default, the nodes in the node set are considered to be initially bonded in all
directions.
Output
Input File Usage:
Input file template
*INITIAL CONDITIONS, TYPE=CONTACT
References
Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Surface-based fluid
modeling Interaction module: Create Interaction: Surface-to-surface contact
(Standard)
Mass scaling
Bonding only in the normal direction
Selective subcycling
For fracture criteria based on the critical stress, critical crack opening
Steady-state detection displacement, or crack length versus time, it is possible to bond the nodes in
the node set (or the contact pair if a node set is not defined) only in the normal
CZone analysis
direction. In this case the nodes are allowed to move freely tangential to the
Additive Manufacturing contact surfaces. Friction (Frictional behavior) cannot be specified if the nodes
Process Simulation are bonded only in the normal direction.

Adaptivity Techniques Bonding only in the normal direction is typically used to model bonded contact
conditions in Mode I crack problems where the shear stress ahead of the crack
Optimization Techniques along the crack plane is zero.

Eulerian Analysis Input File Usage:

Techniques *INITIAL CONDITIONS, TYPE=CONTACT, NORMAL
Particle Methods Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Sequentially Coupled Bonding only in the normal direction is not supported in
Multiphysics Analyses Abaqus/CAE.
Co-simulation

User Subroutines and

Utilities Activating the crack propagation capability in
Design Sensitivity Analysis Abaqus/Standard
Parametric Studies The crack propagation capability must be activated within the step definition to
specify that crack propagation may occur between the two surfaces that are
Sitemap initially partially bonded. You specify the surfaces along which the crack
Benchmarks propagates.
If the crack propagation capability is not activated for partially bonded surfaces,
Constraints
the surfaces will not separate; in this case the specified initial contact conditions
Elements would have the same effect as that provided by the tied contact capability,
which generates a permanent bond between two surfaces during the entire
Example Problems analysis (see Defining tied contact in Abaqus/Standard).
Execution Input File Usage:

Getting Started with *DEBOND, SLAVE=slave_surface_name, MASTER=master_surface_name

Abaqus/CAE
Abaqus/CAE Usage:
GUI Toolkit
Interaction module: Create Interaction: Surface-to-surface contact
GUI Toolkit Reference (Standard), select master and slave surfaces

Interactions Propagation of multiple cracks

Introduction & Spatial Modeling Cracks can propagate from either a single crack tip or multiple crack tips. The
crack propagation capability in Abaqus/Standard requires that the surfaces be
Keywords initially partially bonded so that the crack tips can be identified. A contact pair
can have crack propagation from multiple crack tips. However, only one crack
Materials propagation criterion is allowed for a given contact pair. Crack propagation along
Output several contact pairs can be modeled by specifying multiple crack propagation
definitions.
Prescribed Conditions

Release Notes

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Scripting
Defining and activating crack propagation in
Scripting Reference
Abaqus/Explicit
Theory
In Abaqus/Explicit potential crack surfaces are modeled as bonded general
User Subroutines contact surfaces (see About general contact in Abaqus/Explicit) in the context of
surface-based cohesive behavior (see Contact cohesive behavior). The capability
Verification is implemented using a pure master-slave formulation. As is the case in
Abaqus/Standard, the predetermined crack surfaces are assumed to be initially
fe-safe
partially bonded so that the crack tips can be identified explicitly.
Isight To identify which pair of surfaces determine the crack and which part of the
SIMULIA Execution Engine crack is initially bonded, you must define and assign a contact clearance (see
Controlling initial contact status for general contact in Abaqus/Explicit). You first
Tosca Fluid define a contact clearance to specify the node set that is initially bonded, and
then you assign this contact clearance to a pair of two single-sided surfaces that
Tosca Structure define the crack. The unbonded portion behaves as a regular contact surface.
The nodes in the node set are considered to be initially bonded in all directions.
Installation, Licensing &
Configuration The crack tip is identified only from the specified two surfaces and the node set.
No attempt is made to determine a crack tip from all surfaces included in the
general contact domain. Consequently, to be able to identify the crack tip, the
surface including the specified node set must extend past the node set.
Otherwise, the surfaces will not debond, and the crack cannot propagate.
You complete the definition of the crack propagation capability by defining a
fracture-based cohesive behavior surface interaction. You activate the crack
propagation by assigning it to the pair of surfaces that are initially partially
bonded. If the fracture criterion is met, crack propagation occurs between these
two surfaces. Cohesive behavior is also used to specify the elastic behavior of
the bonds (see Contact cohesive behavior).
If a fracture-based surface interaction is not assigned to a pair of surfaces, the
crack definition is incomplete. Unlike Abaqus/Standard where the identified
nodes will stay bonded if the crack is not activated, in Abaqus/Explicit the nodes
identified by the contact clearance definition will separate without generating
any interface stress.
Similar to Abaqus/Standard, cracks can propagate from single or multiple crack
tips for the same pair of surfaces.
Input File Usage:
Use the following options:
*CONTACT CLEARANCE, NAME=clearance_name, SEARCH NSET=bonded_nset_name
**
*SURFACE INTERACTION, NAME=interaction_name
*COHESIVE BEHAVIOR
*FRACTURE CRITERION
..**
*CONTACT
*CONTACT CLEARANCE ASSIGNMENT
slave_surface, master_surface, clearance_name
*CONTACT PROPERTY ASSIGNMENT
slave_surface, master_surface, interaction_name

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Defining and activating crack propagation in Abaqus/Explicitis not
supported in Abaqus/CAE.

Specifying a fracture criterion

You can specify the crack propagation criteria, as discussed below. Table 1
shows which criteria are supported by Abaqus/Standard and Abaqus/Explicit.
Only one crack propagation criterion is allowed per contact pair even if multiple
cracks are present.
Table 1.

Crack propagation criterion Abaqus/Standard Abaqus/Explicit

Critical stress Yes No

Critical crack opening displacement Yes No

Crack length versus time Yes No

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Crack propagation criterion Abaqus/Standard Abaqus/Explicit

VCCT Yes Yes

Enhanced VCCT Yes No

Fatigue crack growth Yes No

Crack propagation analysis is carried out on a nodal basis. The crack-tip node
debonds when the fracture criterion, f, reaches the value 1.0 within a given
tolerance:

fLL ≤ f ≤ fU L ,

where fU L = 1 + ftol and fLL = 1 for VCCT, enhanced VCCT, and fatigue
crack growth criteria or fLL = 1 − ftol for other fracture criteria. You can
specify the tolerance ftol . In Abaqus/Standard, if f > 1 + ftol , the time
increment is cut back such that the crack propagation criterion is satisfied
except in the case of an unstable crack growth problem where multiple nodes at
and ahead of a crack tip are allowed to debond without the cut back of
increment size in one increment. The default value of ftol is 0.1 for the critical
stress, critical crack opening displacement, and crack length versus time criteria
and is 0.2 for the VCCT and enhanced VCCT criteria.
Input File Usage:
*FRACTURE CRITERION, TOLERANCE=f , TYPE=type tol

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Interaction module: Create Interaction Property: Contact, Mechanical >
Fracture Criterion, Type: VCCT or Enhanced VCCT, Tolerance

Critical stress criterion

This criterion is available only in Abaqus/Standard.
If you specify a critical stress criterion at a critical distance ahead of the crack
tip, the crack-tip node debonds when the local stress across the interface at a
specified distance ahead of the crack tip reaches a critical value.
This criterion is typically used for crack propagation in brittle materials. The
critical stress criterion is defined as

 2 2
2
 σ̂ n τ1 τ2

f = ( ) + ( ) + ( ) ,     σ̂ n = max(σn , 0),
⎷ f f f
σ
τ τ
1 2

where σn is the normal component of stress carried across the interface at the
distance specified; τ1 and τ2 are the shear stress components in the interface;
f
and σ
f
and τ
1
are the normal and shear failure stresses, which you must
specify. The second component of the shear failure stress, τ2 , is not relevant in
f
a two-dimensional analysis; therefore, the value of τ
2
need not be specified.
The crack-tip node debonds when the fracture criterion, f, reaches the value
1.0.
f
If the value of τ
1
is not given or is specified as zero, it will be taken to be a
very large number so that the shear stress has no effect on the fracture
criterion.
The distance ahead of the crack tip is measured along the slave surface, as
shown in Figure 1. The stresses at the specified distance ahead of the crack tip
are obtained by interpolating the values at the adjacent nodes. The interpolation
depends on whether first-order or second-order elements are used to define the
slave surface.

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Figure 1. Distance specification for the critical stress criterion.

Input File Usage:

*FRACTURE CRITERION, TYPE=CRITICAL STRESS, DISTANCE=n

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
The critical stress criterion is not supported in Abaqus/CAE.

Critical crack opening displacement criterion

This criterion is available only in Abaqus/Standard.
If you base the crack propagation analysis on the crack opening displacement
criterion, the crack-tip node debonds when the crack opening displacement at a
specified distance behind the crack tip reaches a critical value. This criterion is
typically used for crack propagation in ductile materials.
The crack opening displacement criterion is defined as

δ
f = ,
δc

where δ is the measured value of crack opening displacement and δc is the

critical value of the crack opening displacement (user-specified). The crack-tip
node debonds when the fracture criterion reaches the value 1.0.
You must supply the crack opening displacement versus cumulative crack length
data. In Abaqus/Standard the cumulative crack length is defined as the distance
between the initial crack tip and the current crack tip measured along the slave
surface in the current configuration. The crack opening displacement is defined
as the normal distance separating the two faces of the crack at the given
distance.
You specify the position, n, behind the crack tip where the critical crack opening
displacement is calculated. The value of this position must be specified as the
length of the straight line joining the current crack tip and points on the slave
and master surfaces (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Distance specification for the critical crack opening
displacement criterion.

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Abaqus/Standard computes the crack opening displacement at that point by

interpolating the values at the adjacent nodes. The interpolation depends on
whether first-order or second-order elements are used to define the slave
surface. An error message will be issued if the value of n is not within the end
points of the contact pair.
Input File Usage:
*FRACTURE CRITERION, TYPE=COD, DISTANCE=n

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
The critical crack opening displacement criterion is not supported in
Abaqus/CAE.
Modeling symmetry
In problems where the debonding surfaces lie on a symmetry plane, you can
specify that Abaqus/Standard should consider only half of the user-specified
crack opening displacement values. In this case the initial bonding must be in
the normal direction only (see Bonding only in the normal direction above).
Input File Usage:
*FRACTURE CRITERION, TYPE=COD, DISTANCE=n, SYMMETRY

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Modeling symmetry is not supported in Abaqus/CAE.

Crack length versus time criterion

This criterion is available only in Abaqus/Standard.
To specify the crack propagation explicitly as a function of total time, you must
provide a crack length versus time relationship and a reference point from which
the crack length is measured. This reference point is defined by specifying a
node set. Abaqus/Standard finds the average of the current positions of the
nodes in the set to define the reference point. During crack propagation the
crack length is measured from this user-specified reference point along the
slave surface in the deformed configuration. The time specified must be total
time, not step time.
The fracture criterion, f, is stated in terms of the user-specified crack length and
the length of the current crack tip. The length of the current crack tip from the
reference point is measured as the sum of the straight line distance of the initial
crack tip from the reference point and the distance between the initial crack tip
and the current crack tip measured along the slave surface.
Referring to Figure 3, let node 1 be the initial location of the crack tip and node
3 be the current location of the crack tip. The distance of the current crack tip
located at node 3 is given by

l3 = l1 + Δl12 + Δl23 ,

where l1 is the length of the straight line joining node 1 and the reference point,
Δl12 is the distance between nodes 1 and 2, and Δl23 is the distance between

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nodes 2 and 3 measured along the slave surface.
Figure 3. Crack propagation as a function of time.

The fracture criterion, f, is given by

l − (l3 − Δl23 )
f = ,
Δl23

where l is the length at the current time obtained from the user-specified crack
length versus time curve. Crack-tip node 3 will debond when the failure function
f reaches the value of 1.0 (within the user-defined tolerance).
If geometric nonlinearity is considered in the step (Defining an analysis), the
reference point may move as the body deforms; you must ensure that this
movement does not invalidate the crack length versus time criterion.
Abaqus/Standard does not extrapolate beyond the end points of your crack
data. Therefore, if the first crack length specified is greater than the distance
from the crack reference point to the first bonded node, the first bonded node
will never debond and the crack will not propagate. In this case
Abaqus/Standard will print warning messages in the message (.msg) file.

Input File Usage:

*FRACTURE CRITERION, TYPE=CRACK LENGTH, NSET=name

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
The crack length versus time criterion is not supported in
Abaqus/CAE.

VCCT criterion
This criterion is available in both Abaqus/Standard and Abaqus/Explicit.
The Virtual Crack Closure Technique (VCCT) criterion uses the principles of
linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) and, therefore, is appropriate for
problems in which brittle crack propagation occurs along predefined surfaces.
VCCT is based on the assumption that the strain energy released when a crack
is extended by a certain amount is the same as the energy required to close the
crack by the same amount. For example, Figure 4 illustrates the similarity
between crack extension from i to j and crack closure at j.
Figure 4. Mode I: The energy released when a crack is extended by a
certain amount is the same as the energy required to close the crack.

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In Figure 5 nodes 2 and 5 will start to release when

GI 1 v1,6 Fv,2,5 1
f = = ( ) ≥ 1.0,
GI C 2 bd GI C

where GI is the Mode I energy release rate, GI C is the critical Mode I energy
release rate, b is the width, d is the length of the elements at the crack front,
Fv,2,5 is the vertical force between nodes 2 and 5, and v1,6 is the vertical

displacement between nodes 1 and 6. Assuming that the crack closure is

governed by linear elastic behavior, the energy to close the crack (and, thus,
the energy to open the crack) is calculated from the previous equation. Similar
arguments and equations can be written in two dimensions for Mode II and for
three-dimensional crack surfaces including Mode III.

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Figure 5. Pure Mode I modified.

In the general case involving Mode I, II, and III the fracture criterion is defined
as

Gequiv
f = ≥ 1.0,
GequivC

where Gequiv is the equivalent strain energy release rate calculated at a node,
and GequivC is the critical equivalent strain energy release rate calculated based
on the user-specified mode-mix criterion and the bond strength of the interface.
The crack-tip node will debond when the fracture criterion reaches the value of
1.0.
Abaqus provides three common mode-mix formulae for computing GequivC : the
BK law, the power law, and the Reeder law models. The choice of model is not
always clear in any given analysis; an appropriate model is best selected
empirically.
BK law
The BK law model is described in Benzeggagh (1996) by the following formula:

η
GI I + GI I I
GequivC = GI C + (GI I C − GI C ) ( ) ,
GI + GI I + GI I I

Gequiv = GI + GI I + GI I I .

To define this model, you must provide GI C , GI I C , and η. This model provides
a power law relationship combining energy release rates in Mode I, Mode II, and
Mode III into a single scalar fracture criterion.
Input File Usage:
*FRACTURE CRITERION, TYPE=VCCT, MIXED MODE BEHAVIOR=BK

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Interaction module: Create Interaction Property: Contact, Mechanical >
Fracture Criterion, Type: VCCT, Mixed mode behavior: BK
Power law
The power law model is described in Wu (1965) by the following formula:

am an ao
Gequiv GI GI I GI I I
= ( ) + ( ) + ( ) .
GequivC GI C GI I C GI I I C

To define this model, you must provide G I C , G I I C , G I I I C , am , an , and ao .

Input File Usage:

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*FRACTURE CRITERION, TYPE=VCCT, MIXED MODE BEHAVIOR=POWER

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Interaction module: Create Interaction Property: Contact, Mechanical >
Fracture Criterion, Type: VCCT, Mixed mode behavior: Power
Reeder law
The Reeder law model is described in Reeder (2002) by the following formula:

η
GI I + GI I I
GequivC = GI C + (GI I C − GI C ) ( ) +
GI + GI I + GI I I

η
GI I I GI I + GI I I
(GI I I C − GI I C ) ( )( ) ,
GI I + GI I I GI + GI I + GI I I

Gequiv = GI + GI I + GI I I .

To define this model, you must provide GI C , GI I C , GI I I C , and η. The Reeder

law is best applied when GI I C ≠ GI I I C . When GI I C = GI I I C , the Reeder law
reduces to the BK law. The Reeder law applies only to three-dimensional
problems.
Input File Usage:
*FRACTURE CRITERION, TYPE=VCCT, MIXED MODE BEHAVIOR=REEDER

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Interaction module: Create Interaction Property: Contact, Mechanical >
Fracture Criterion, Type: VCCT, Mixed mode behavior: Reeder
Defining variable critical energy release rates
You can define a VCCT criterion with varying energy release rates by specifying
the critical energy release rates at the nodes.
If you indicate that the nodal critical energy rates will be specified, any constant
critical energy release rates you specify are ignored, and the critical energy
release rates are interpolated from the nodes. The critical energy release rates
must be defined at all nodes on the slave surface.
Input File Usage:
Use both of the following options:
*FRACTURE CRITERION, TYPE=VCCT, NODAL ENERGY RATE
*NODAL ENERGY RATE

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Defining variable critical energy release rates is not supported in
Abaqus/CAE.

Enhanced VCCT criterion

This criterion is available only in Abaqus/Standard.
The enhanced VCCT criterion is very similar to the original VCCT criterion
described above. As in the original VCCT criterion, the fracture criterion in the
general case involving Mode I, II, and III is defined as

Gequiv
f = ≥ 1.0.
GequivC

The crack-tip node debonds when the fracture criterion reaches the value of 1.0.
However, unlike the original VCCT criterion, you can specify two different critical
P
fracture energy release rates: GC for the onset of a crack and G
C
for the
growth of a crack. When the enhanced VCCT criterion is used in the general
case involving Mode I, II, and III fracture, the amount of energy dissipated
associated with the release of the debonding force is controlled by the critical
equivalent strain energy release rate required to propagate the crack, GP equivC
,
rather than by the critical equivalent strain energy release rate required to

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initiate the crack, GequivC . The formulae for calculating G

P
equivC
are identical to
those used for GequivC for different mixed-mode fracture criteria.

Input File Usage:

*FRACTURE CRITERION, TYPE=ENHANCED VCCT

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Interaction module: Create Interaction Property: Contact, Mechanical >
Fracture Criterion, Type: Enhanced VCCT

Fatigue crack growth criterion

This criterion is available only in Abaqus/Standard.
If you specify the fatigue crack growth criterion, progressive delamination
growth at the interfaces in laminated composites subjected to sub-critical cyclic
loadings can be simulated. This criterion can be used only in the general fatigue
crack growth approach (Linear elastic fatigue crack growth analysis) or a low-
cycle fatigue analysis using the direct cyclic approach (Low-cycle fatigue
analysis using the direct cyclic approach). The onset and delamination growth
are characterized by using the Paris law, which relates the relative fracture
energy release rate to crack growth rates as illustrated in Figure 6. An
alternative form to the original Paris law, which better accounts for the mixed
mode fatigue crack growth, is also available as shown in Figure 7. The fracture
energy release rates at the crack tips in the interface elements are calculated
based on the above mentioned VCCT technique.
The Paris regime is bounded by the energy release rate threshold, Gthresh ,

below which there is no consideration of fatigue crack initiation or growth, and

the energy release rate upper limit, Gpl , above which the fatigue crack will
grow at an accelerated rate. GC is the critical equivalent strain energy release
rate calculated based on the user-specified mode-mix criterion and the bond
strength of the interface. The formulae for calculating GC have been provided
above for different mixed mode fracture criteria. You can specify the ratio of
Gthresh over GC and the ratio of Gpl over GC . The default values are

Gthresh Gpl
= 0.01 and = 0.85.
G G
C C

Figure 6. Fatigue crack growth govern by Paris law.

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Figure 7. Mixed mode fatigue crack growth governed by Paris law.

Input File Usage:

*FRACTURE CRITERION, TYPE=FATIGUE

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
The fatigue crack growth criterion is not supported in Abaqus/CAE.
Onset of delamination growth
The onset of delamination growth refers to the beginning of fatigue crack
growth at the crack tip along the interface. In a fatigue crack growth analysis
the onset of the fatigue crack growth criterion is characterized by ΔG, which is
the relative fracture energy release rate when the structure is loaded between
its maximum and minimum values. The fatigue crack growth initiation criterion
is defined as

N
f = ≥ 1.0,
c2
c1 ΔG

where c1 and c2 are material constants and N is the cycle number. The
interface elements at the crack tips will not be released unless the above
equation is satisfied and the maximum fracture energy release rate, Gmax ,
which corresponds to the cyclic energy release rate when the structure is loaded
up to its maximum value, is greater than Gthresh . If you do not specify the
onset criterion, Abaqus/Standard assumes that the onset of fatigue crack
growth is satisfied automatically.
Fatigue delamination growth using the Paris law
Once the onset of delamination growth criterion is satisfied at the interface, the
delamination growth rate, da/dN , can be calculated based on the relative
fracture energy release rate, ΔG. The rate of the delamination growth per cycle
is given by the Paris law if Gthresh < Gmax < Gpl ,

da
c4
= c3 ΔG ,
dN

where c3 and c4 are material constants.

An alternative form to the above original Paris law, which better accounts for
mixed mode fatigue crack growth, is also available:

da c4
= c3 G ,
T M ax
dN

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where GT M ax is the total maximum strain energy release rate over a cycle, and
the Paris law parameters, c3 and c4 , now not only depend on material
properties but also on mode mix ratio and stress ratio.
In addition, user subroutine UMIXMODEFATIGUE provides a general capability
for implementing a user-defined fatigue crack growth law.
At the end of cycle N , Abaqus/Standard extends the crack length, aN , from the
current cycle forward over an incremental number of cycles, ΔN to aN +ΔN by
releasing at least one element at the interface. Given the Paris law parameters,
c3 and c4 , combined with the known node spacing ΔaN j = aN +ΔN − aN at

the interface elements at the crack tips, the number of cycles necessary to fail
each interface element at the crack tip can be calculated as ΔNj , where j
represents the node at the jthe crack tip. The analysis is set up to release at
least one interface element after the loading cycle is completed. The element
with the fewest cycles is identified to be released, and its
ΔNmin = min (ΔNj ) is represented as the number of cycles to grow the

crack equal to its element length, ΔaN min = min (ΔaN j ). The most critical
element is completely released with a zero constraint and a zero stiffness at the
end of the completed cycle. As the interface element is released, the load is
redistributed and a new relative fracture energy release rate must be calculated
for the interface elements at the crack tips for the next cycle. This capability
allows at least one interface element at the crack tips to be released after each
completed cycle and precisely accounts for the number of cycles needed to
cause fatigue crack growth over that length.
If Gmax > Gpl , the interface elements at the crack tips will be released by
increasing the cycle number count, dN , by one only.
Input File Usage:
Use one of the following options to define the fatigue crack growth
criterion:
*FRACTURE CRITERION, TYPE=FATIGUE,
MIXED MODE BEHAVIOR=BK (default)
*FRACTURE CRITERION, TYPE=FATIGUE,
MIXED MODE BEHAVIOR=POWER
*FRACTURE CRITERION, TYPE=FATIGUE,
MIXED MODE BEHAVIOR=REEDER
*FRACTURE CRITERION, TYPE=FATIGUE,
MIXED MODE BEHAVIOR=TABULAR
*FRACTURE CRITERION, TYPE=FATIGUE,
MIXED MODE BEHAVIOR=USER

The alternative form of the Paris law defined above can be used only
in conjunction with the tabular form of the fatigue crack growth
criterion.
Abaqus/CAE Usage:
The fatigue crack growth criterion is not supported in Abaqus/CAE.

Specifying how a debonding force is released after a

fracture criterion is met in Abaqus/Standard
After debonding, the traction between two surfaces is initially carried as equal
and opposite forces at the slave node and the corresponding point on the
master surface. The debonding force is released as the crack opens and
advances. Once complete debonding has occurred at a point, the bond surfaces
act like standard contact surfaces with associated interface characteristics.
There are several ways to release the debonding force, depending on the
fracture criterion that you specify.

Specifying a debonding amplitude curve

When you use the critical stress, critical crack opening displacement, or crack
length versus time fracture criteria, you can define how this force is to be
reduced to zero with time after debonding starts at a particular node on the
bonded surface. You specify a relative amplitude, a, as a function of time after
debonding starts at a node. Thus, suppose the force transmitted between the

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surfaces at slave node N is T

N
∣
∣ when that node starts to debond, which
0

occurs at time t
N
∣
∣ . Then, for any time t > t
N
∣
∣ the force transmitted between
0 0

∣
the surfaces at node N is a (t − t
N
∣
∣ )T
N
. The relative amplitude must be
0 ∣
0

1.0 at the relative time 0.0 and must reduce to 0.0 at the last relative time
point given.
The best choice of the amplitude curve depends on the material properties,
specified loading, and the crack propagation criterion. If the stresses are
removed too rapidly, the resulting large changes in the strains near the crack tip
can cause convergence difficulties. For large-strain problems severe mesh
distortion can also occur. For problems with rate-independent materials a linear
amplitude curve is normally adequate. For problems with rate-dependent
materials the stresses should be ramped off more slowly at the beginning of
debonding to avoid convergence and mesh distortion difficulties. To reduce the
likelihood of convergence and mesh distortion difficulties, you can reduce the
value of the debond stress by 25% in 50% of the time to debond. The solution
should not be strongly influenced by the details of the unloading procedure; if it
is, this usually indicates that the mesh should be refined in the debond region.
Input File Usage:
*DEBOND, SLAVE=slave, MASTER=master
Data lines to define debonding amplitude curve

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Specifying a debonding amplitude curve is not supported in
Abaqus/CAE.

Ramping down debonding force for the VCCT and the

enhanced VCCT criteria
For the VCCT and the enhanced VCCT criteria, when the energy release rate
exceeds the critical value at a crack tip, you can either release the traction
between the two surfaces at the crack tip immediately during the following
increment or release the traction gradually during succeeding increments with
the reduction of the magnitude of the debonding force being governed by the
critical fracture energy release rate. The latter approach is sometimes
recommended to avoid sudden loss of stability when the crack tip is advanced.
The enhanced VCCT criterion is meaningful only when used in conjunction with
the latter approach. When the former approach is used, the results obtained by
using the enhanced VCCT criterion are identical to those obtained by using the
original VCCT criterion.
Input File Usage:
Use the following option to release the traction immediately:
*DEBOND, SLAVE=slave, MASTER=master,
DEBONDING FORCE=STEP

Use the following option to release the traction gradually:

*DEBOND, SLAVE=slave, MASTER=master,
DEBONDING FORCE=RAMP

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Interaction module: Special > Crack > Create: Name: crack name, Type:
Debond using VCCT, select the step and the surface to surface (Standard)
interaction, Debonding force: Step or Ramp

Ramping down debonding force for the fatigue crack growth

criteria
At the end of the loading cycle, the interface element that takes the fewest
cycles, ΔNmin , to fracture is released completely with zero constraint and a
zero debonding force immediately after fracture. All of the other interface
elements satisfied with the accuracy of the damage extrapolation condition (as
defined in Controlling the accuracy of damage extrapolation) are fractured. The
debonding force is removed immediately after fracture or ramped down
gradually according to a scalar damage variable defined as:

da
ΔNmin
dN
DN +ΔN = DN + ,
aN

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da
where is the crack growth rate, and aN is the element length. The
dN

debonding force becomes zero when the scalar damage variable reaches the
value of 1.0 within a given tolerance, f:

DN +ΔN ≥ 1 − f .

The default value of f is 0.05.

Input File Usage:
Use the following options to release the traction immediately:
*DEBOND, DEBONDING FORCE=STEP (default)
*FRACTURE CRITERION, TYPE=FATIGUE

Use the following options to release the traction gradually:

*DEBOND, DEBONDING FORCE=RAMP
*FRACTURE CRITERION, TYPE=FATIGUE, TOLERANCE=f

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Specifying the ramping down of the debonding force for the fatigue
crack growth criterion is not supported in Abaqus/CAE.

Releasing multiple nodes in one increment in

Abaqus/Standard
For an unstable crack growth problem, sometimes it is more efficient to allow
multiple nodes at and ahead of a crack tip to debond in one increment without
cutting back the increment size when the VCCT or the enhanced VCCT fracture
criterion is satisfied. This capability is activated automatically if you specify an
u
unstable growth tolerance, ftol . In this case if the fracture criterion, f, is within
the given unstable growth tolerance:

u
1 + ftol ≤ f ≤ 1 + f ,
tol

where ftol is the tolerance described earlier, the time increment size is reduced
automatically to a very small value, βΔtmin , allowing more nodes to debond
until f < 1 for all the nodes ahead of the crack tip, after which the time
increment size will be automatically recovered to a larger value, αΔtpr e , where
Δtmin is the minimum time increment allowed, Δtpr e is the time increment
size prior to the unstable crack growth, and α and β are scaling parameters.
The default values of α and β are 0.5 and 2.0. If you do not specify a value for
the unstable growth tolerance, the default value is infinity. In this case the
fracture criterion, f, for unstable crack growth is not limited by any upper-bound
value in the above equation. The forces at those debonded nodes can be
completely released immediately during the following increment or ramped
down gradually during succeeding increments with the reduction of the
magnitude of the debonding force being governed by the critical fracture energy
release rate. If the forces at the debonded nodes are ramped down gradually,
an unsymmetric matrix storage and solution scheme (Matrix storage and
solution scheme in Abaqus/Standard) is used by default to improve
convergence.
Input File Usage:
Use one of the following sets of options:
*DEBOND, DEBONDING FORCE=RAMP
*FRACTURE CRITERION, TYPE=VCCT,
UNSTABLE GROWTH TOLERANCE=f u
tol

*CONTROLS, TYPE=NO CUTBACK SCALING

or
*DEBOND, DEBONDING FORCE=STEP
*FRACTURE CRITERION, TYPE=VCCT,
UNSTABLE GROWTH TOLERANCE=f u

tol

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Specifying an unstable crack growth tolerance is not supported in
Abaqus/CAE.

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Procedures
Crack propagation analysis can be performed for static or dynamic overloadings
using the following procedures:
Static stress analysis
Quasi-static analysis
Implicit dynamic analysis using direct integration
Explicit dynamic analysis
Fully coupled thermal-stress analysis

It can also be performed for sub-critical cyclic fatigue loadings using the
following procedures:
Linear elastic fatigue crack growth analysis
Low-cycle fatigue analysis using the direct cyclic approach

Controlling time incrementation during debonding in

Abaqus/Standard
When automatic incrementation is used for any criteria other than VCCT,
enhanced VCCT, or fatigue crack growth, you can specify the size of the time
increment used just after debonding starts. By default, the time increment is
equal to the last relative time specified. However, if a fracture criterion is met at
the beginning of an increment, the size of the time increment used just after
debonding starts will be set equal to the minimum time increment allowed in
this step.
For fixed time incrementation the specified time increment value will be used as
the time increment size after debonding starts if Abaqus/Standard finds it needs
a smaller time increment than the fixed time increment size. The time
increment size will be modified as required until debonding is complete.
Input File Usage:
*DEBOND, SLAVE=slave, MASTER=master, TIME INCREMENT=t

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Controlling time incrementation during debonding is not supported
in Abaqus/CAE.

Viscous regularization for VCCT in Abaqus/Standard

The simulation of structures with unstable propagating cracks is challenging and
difficult. Nonconvergent behavior may occur from time to time. While the usual
stabilization techniques (such as contact pair stabilization and static
stabilization) can be used to overcome some convergence difficulties, localized
damping is included for VCCT or enhanced VCCT by using the viscous
regularization technique. Viscous regularization damping causes the tangent
stiffness matrix of the softening material to be positive for sufficiently small
time increments.
Input File Usage:
Use one of following options:
*FRACTURE CRITERION, TYPE=VCCT, VISCOSITY=μ
*FRACTURE CRITERION, TYPE=ENHANCED VCCT, VISCOSITY=μ

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Interaction module: Create Interaction Property: Contact, Mechanical >
Fracture Criterion, Type: VCCT or Enhanced VCCT, Viscosity

Linear scaling to accelerate convergence for VCCT in

Abaqus/Standard
For most crack propagation simulations using VCCT or the enhanced VCCT
criterion, the deformation can be nearly linear up to the point of the onset of
crack growth; past this point the analysis becomes very nonlinear. In this case a
linear scaling method can be used to effectively reduce the solution time to
reach the onset of crack growth.
Suppose that an applied “trial” load at increment t = ti is just a fraction of the
critical load at the onset time of crack growth, t = tcrit . The following algorithm

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is used in Abaqus/Standard to quickly converge to the critical load state:

GequivC
Δti+1 = (βi √ − 1) ti ,
Gequiv

where initially βi would be set between 0.7 and 0.9 depending on the degree of
nonlinearity (the default value is 0.9). When Δti+1 becomes smaller than 0.5%
(indicating that the load is within 0.5% of its critical value), the next βi is
automatically set to 1.0 to cause the most critical crack-tip node to precisely
reach the critical value at the next increment. After the first crack-tip node
releases, the linear scaling calculations are no longer valid and the time
increment is set to the default value. Cutback is then allowed.
Input File Usage:
*CONTROLS, TYPE=VCCT LINEAR SCALING

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Step module: Other > General Solution Controls > Edit: step name, VCCT
Linear Scaling

Tips for using the VCCT or enhanced VCCT criterion in

Abaqus/Standard
Crack propagation problems using the VCCT or enhanced VCCT criterion are
numerically challenging. The following tips will help you create a successful
Abaqus/Standard model:
An analysis with the VCCT or enhanced VCCT criterion requires small
time increments. Abaqus/Standard tracks the location of the active
crack front node by node when the VCCT or enhanced VCCT criterion is
used. Therefore, the crack front is allowed to advance only a single
node forward in any single increment (although such an advance may
take place across the entire crack front in three-dimensional
problems). Because an analysis using the VCCT or enhanced VCCT
criterion provides detailed results of the growth of the crack, you will
need small time increments, especially if the mesh is highly refined.
Three different types of damping can be used to aid convergence for a
model using the VCCT or enhanced VCCT criterion: contact
stabilization, automatic or static stabilization, and viscous
regularization. Contact and automatic stabilization are not specific to
VCCT; they are built into Abaqus/Standard and are compatible with
VCCT. Setting the value of the damping parameters is often an
iterative procedure. If your VCCT model fails to converge due to
unstable crack propagation, set the damping parameters to relatively
high values and rerun the analysis. If the parameters are high enough,
stable incrementation should return. However, the crack propagation
behavior may have been modified by the damping forces and may not
be physically correct. To monitor the energy absorbed by viscous
damping, plot the damping energy and compare the results to the total
strain energy in the model (ALLSE). When set properly, the value of
the damping energy should be a small fraction of the total energy.
Monitor the damping energy to ensure that the results of the VCCT
simulation are reasonable in the presence of damping. When you use
contact or automatic stabilization, Abaqus writes the damping energy
to the variable ALLSD in the output database (.odb) file. When you use
viscous regularization, Abaqus writes the damping energy to the
variable ALLVD.
To maximize the accuracy of the debonding simulation, try to use
matched meshes between the slave and master surfaces of the
debonding contact pair.
If you do use a mismatched mesh, you can maximize the accuracy of
the simulation by using the small-sliding, surface-to-surface
formulation for the contact pair (see Contact formulations in
Abaqus/Standard).
Printing contact constraint information to the data (.dat) file allows
you to review the status of the debonding contact pair at the beginning
of the analysis. By printing detailed contact conditions to the message
(.msg) file, you can track the incremental behavior of the advancing

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crack front during the analysis. For more information about these
output requests, see About Output.
You can add a small clearance to the initially unbonded portion of the
debonding contact pair (Treating and adjusting initial overclosures and
clearances in Abaqus/Standard contact pairs). The small clearance will
help to eliminate unnecessary severe discontinuity iterations during
incrementation as the crack begins to progress.
Do not use tie MPCs (General multi-point constraints) for the slave
surface in a debonding contact pair. Abaqus is unable to resolve the
overconstraint presented by the MPC and the debonded contact state.
You must have continuous master debonding surfaces.
You may be able to help the analysis converge by adding geometric
nonlinearity (even if small-sliding is used for the debonding contact
pair). For more information, see Geometric nonlinearity.
For two-dimensional models with contact pairs involving higher-order
underlying elements, the initially unbonded portion must extend over
complete element faces. In other words, the crack tip in a two-
dimensional, higher-order model must start at a corner node on the
quadratic slave surfaces. The crack tip must not start at a midside
node.
When the surface-to-surface contact formulation is used, at least two
rows of elements should be used behind the crack front.

Tips for using the VCCT criterion in Abaqus/Explicit

Crack propagation problems using the VCCT criterion analyzed in
Abaqus/Explicit benefit from the robustness of the general contact algorithm in
the context of an explicit time integrator. Nevertheless, as is the case in
Abaqus/Standard, these analyses remain challenging given the discontinuous
nature of the fracture phenomenon. The following tips will help you create a
successful Abaqus/Explicit model:
Dynamic effects are of utmost relevance when assessing the results
from a debonding analysis using the VCCT criterion. In most cases
experimental and/or theoretical data are available in quasi-static
settings. You must ensure that the Abaqus/Explicit analysis generates
low ratios of kinetic energy to internal energy (1% or less). In practical
terms this requirement often translates into avoiding the use of mass
scaling in the model. Use smooth amplitudes to drive the loading to
help reduce the kinetic energy in the model. Running the analysis over
a longer period of time will not help in most cases because bond
breakage is an inherently fast and localized process.
If appropriate, use damping-like behavior in the materials associated
with the debonding plates to reduce dynamic vibrations. Unlike
Abaqus/Standard, where a pure static equilibrium is achieved at the
end of a converged increment, in Abaqus/Explicit the bond breakage at
a given location is associated with a dynamic overshoot beyond the
static equilibrium position. If the vibrations are significant (kinetic
energy is clearly observable), the dynamic overshoot at nodes behind
the crack tip may lead to premature debonding of the crack tip.
To maximize the accuracy of the debonding simulation, use quad
meshes between the slave and master surfaces of the debonding
surfaces. Avoid using elements with aspect ratios greater than 2. In
most cases mesh refinement will help with obtaining a realistic result.
Highly mismatched critical energy values between modes tend to
induce crack propagation in continuously changing directions in a
manner that may be unstable and unrealistic, particularly for modes II
and III. Do not use such values unless experimental data suggest so.
Use frequent field output requests to evaluate the debonding evolution
as the analysis progresses. In some cases this can point to nontrivial
modeling deficiencies that are difficult to identify from a simple data
check analysis.
Avoid the use of other constraints involving nodes on both surfaces of
the debonding interface because the cohesive contact forces will
compete with the constraint forces to achieve global equilibrium. Bond
breakage might be hard to interpret in these cases.

Comparing VCCT and cohesive elements

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Using VCCT to solve delamination problems is very similar to using cohesive
elements in Abaqus. Table 2 describes the advantages and disadvantages of the
two approaches.
For an example of the use of cohesive elements, see Delamination analysis of
laminated composites. This example also shows the effect of viscous
regularization on the predicted force-displacement response.
Table 2. Comparing VCCT and cohesive elements.

VCCT Cohesive Elements

Simulation Simulation (mechanics)-driven crack propagation along

(mechanics)-driven a known crack surface. However, cohesive elements can
crack propagation along also be placed between element faces as a mechanism
a known crack surface. for allowing individual elements to separate.

Models brittle fracture Model brittle or ductile fracture for LEFM or EPFM. Very
using LEFM only. general interaction modeling capability is possible.

Uses a surface-based Require definition of the connectivity and

framework. Does not interconnectivity of cohesive elements with the rest of
require additional the structure. For accuracy, the mesh of cohesive
elements. elements may need to be smaller than the surrounding
structural mesh and the associated “cohesive zone.” As
a result, cohesive elements may be more expensive.

Requires a pre-existing Can model crack initiation from initially uncracked

flaw at the beginning of surfaces. The crack initiates when the cohesive traction
the crack surface. stress exceeds a critical value.
Cannot model crack
initiation from a surface
that is not already
cracked.

Crack propagates when Crack propagates according to cohesive damage model,

strain energy release usually calibrated so that the energy released when the
rate exceeds fracture crack is fully open equals the critical strain energy
toughness. release rate.

Multiple crack Multiple crack fronts/surfaces can be included.

fronts/surfaces can be
included.

In Abaqus/Standard Crack surfaces are joined elastically when uncracked in

crack surfaces are Abaqus/Standard.
rigidly bonded when
uncracked.

Requires user-specified Require user-specified critical traction value and fracture

fracture toughness of toughness of the bond, as well as elasticity of the
the bond. bonded surface.

Measuring the critical strain energy release properties for

VCCT
You must obtain the critical strain energy release properties of the bonded
surfaces for VCCT. The procedure to obtain the critical strain energy release
properties is beyond the scope of this guide; however, you can refer to the
following ASTM test specifications for guidance:
ASTM D 5528-94a, “Standard Test Method for Mode I Interlaminar
Fracture Toughness of Unidirectional Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Matrix
Composites”
ASTM D 6671-01, “Standard Test Method for Mixed Mode I-Mode II
Interlaminar Fracture Toughness of Unidirectional Fiber-Reinforced
Polymer Matrix Composites”
ASTM D 6115-97, “Standard Test Method for Mode I Fatigue
Delamination Growth Onset of Unidirectional Fiber-Reinforced Polymer
Matrix Composites”

These test specifications can be found in the Annual Book of ASTM Standards,
American Society for Testing and Materials, vol. 15.03, 2000.

Initial conditions
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Initial contact conditions are used to identify which part of the slave surface is
initially bonded, as explained earlier.

Boundary conditions
Boundary conditions should not be applied to any of the nodes on the master or
slave crack surfaces, but they can be used to load the structure and cause crack
propagation. Boundary conditions can be applied to any of the displacement
degrees of freedom in a crack propagation analysis (Boundary Conditions). In a
fatigue crack growth analysis, prescribed boundary conditions must have an
amplitude definition that is cyclic over the step: the start value must be equal to
the end value (see Amplitude Curves).

Loads
The following types of loading can be prescribed in a crack propagation analysis:
Concentrated nodal forces can be applied to the displacement degrees
of freedom (1–6); see Concentrated loads.
Distributed pressure forces or body forces can be applied; see
Distributed loads. The distributed load types available with particular
elements are described in Abaqus Elements Guide.

For a fatigue crack growth analysis each load must have an amplitude definition
that is cyclic over the step: the start value must be equal to the end value (see
Amplitude Curves).

Predefined fields
The following predefined fields can be specified in a crack propagation analysis,
as described in Predefined Fields:
Although temperature is not a degree of freedom in
stress/displacement elements, nodal temperatures can be specified as
predefined fields. The specified temperature affects temperature-
dependent critical stress and crack opening displacement failure
criteria, if specified.
The values of user-defined field variables can be specified. These
values affect field-variable-dependent critical stress and crack opening
displacement failure criteria, if specified.

The temperatures and user-defined field variables on slave and master surfaces
are averaged to determine the critical stresses and crack opening
displacements.
In a fatigue crack growth analysis, the temperature values specified must be
cyclic over the step: the start value must be equal to the end value (see
Amplitude Curves). If the temperatures are read from the results file, you
should specify initial temperature conditions equal to the temperature values at
the end of the step (see Initial Conditions). Alternatively, you can ramp the
temperatures back to their initial condition values, as described in Predefined
Fields.

Material options
Any of the mechanical constitutive models in Abaqus/Standard can be used to
model the mechanical behavior of the cracking material. See Abaqus Materials
Guide.

Elements
Regular, rectangular meshes give the best results in crack propagation analyses.
Results with nonlinear materials are more sensitive to meshing than results with
small-strain linear elasticity.
First-order elements generally work best for crack propagation analysis.

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Line spring elements cannot be used in crack propagation analysis.
The VCCT, enhanced VCCT, and fatigue crack growth criteria not only support
two-dimensional models (planar and axisymmetric) but also three-dimensional
models with contact pairs involving first-order underlying elements (solids,
shells, and continuum shells). In Abaqus/Standard use of the VCCT or enhanced
VCCT criterion in two-dimensional models with contact pairs involving higher-
order underlying elements is limited to crack fronts that are aligned with the
corner nodes of the higher-order element faces. Use of the fatigue crack growth
criterion with contact pairs involving higher-order underlying elements is not
supported.

Output
Unless otherwise stated, the following discussions in this section are applied
only to the critical stress, critical crack opening displacement, and crack length
versus time criteria.
At the start of an analysis Abaqus/Standard will scan the partially bonded
surfaces and identify all of the crack tips that are present in the model. The
initial contact status of all of the slave surface nodes is printed in the data
(.dat) file. At this stage Abaqus/Standard will explicitly identify all the crack
tips and mark them as crack 1, crack 2, etc. The slave and master surfaces that
are associated with these cracks are also identified.
The initial contact status of all of the slave surface nodes is also printed in the
data (.dat) file for the VCCT, enhanced VCCT, and fatigue crack growth criteria.

Printing crack propagation information to the data file

By default, crack propagation information will be printed to the data file during
the analysis. For each crack that is identified Abaqus/Standard will print out the
initial and current crack-tip node numbers, accumulated incremental crack
length (distance from the initial crack tip to the current crack tip, measured
along the slave surface), and the current value of the user-specified fracture
criterion used. Crack propagation information cannot be printed to the data file
in Abaqus/Explicit.
For example, if the crack opening displacement criterion is used, the printed
output during the analysis will appear as follows in the data file:
CRACK TIP LOCATION AND ASSOCIATED QUANTITIES
CRACK SLAVE MASTER INITIAL CURRENT CUMULATIVE CRITICAL
NUMBER SURFACE SURFACE CRACKTIP CRACKTIP INCREMENTAL COD
NODE # NODE # LENGTH
⋮ ⋮ ⋮ ⋮ ⋮ ⋮ ⋮

Input File Usage:

*DEBOND, SLAVE=slave, MASTER=master

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Interaction module: Special > Crack > Create: Type: Debond using VCCT,
Write output to DAT file every n increments

Writing crack propagation information to the results file

In Abaqus/Standard you can choose to write the crack propagation information
to the results (.fil) file.

Input File Usage:

*DEBOND, SLAVE=slave, MASTER=master, OUTPUT=FILE

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Writing crack propagation information to the results file is not
supported in Abaqus/CAE.

Writing crack propagation information to both the data file

and the results file
In Abaqus/Standard you can write the crack propagation information to both the
data and the results files.
Input File Usage:
*DEBOND, SLAVE=slave, MASTER=master, OUTPUT=BOTH

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
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Writing crack propagation information to both the data file and the
results file is not supported in Abaqus/CAE.

Controlling the output frequency

In Abaqus/Standard you can control the output frequency in increments. By
default, the crack-tip location and associated quantities will be printed every
increment. Specify an output frequency of 0 to suppress crack propagation
output.
Input File Usage:
*DEBOND, SLAVE=slave, MASTER=master, FREQUENCY=f

Abaqus/CAE Usage:
Interaction module: Special > Crack > Create: Type: Debond using VCCT,
Write output to DAT file every n increments

Output variables
The following bond failure quantities can be requested as surface output (see
Output to the Data and Results Files, Abaqus/Standard output variable
identifiers, and Abaqus/Explicit output variable identifiers) for all fracture
criteria:
DBT
The time when bond failure occurred. For the VCCT, enhanced VCCT,
and fatigue crack growth criteria, this is the time when debonding
initiates.
DBSF
Fraction of stress at bond failure that still remains.
DBS
All components of remaining stress in the failed bond.
DBS1i
1i component of stress in the failed bond that remains (i = 1, 2).

For the VCCT, enhanced VCCT, and fatigue crack growth criteria, the following
additional variables can be also requested as surface output (see Output to the
Data and Results Files):
CSDMG
Overall value of the scalar damage variable.
BDSTAT
Bond state. The bond state varies between 1.0 (fully bonded) and 0.0
(fully unbonded).
OPENBC
Relative displacement behind crack when the fracture criterion is met.
CRSTS
All components of critical stress at failure
CRSTS1i
1i component of critical stress at failure (i = 1, 3).

ENRRT
All components of strain energy release rate.
ENRRT1i
1i component of strain energy release rate (i = 1, 3).

EFENRRTR
Gequiv

Effective energy release rate ratio, .

GequivC

Surface output requests provide the usual output of contact variables in addition
to the above quantities. The bond failure quantities must be requested
explicitly; otherwise, only the default output for contact will be given.
Abaqus/CAE provides support for the visualization of time-history plots and X–Y
plots of the variables that are written to the output database.

Contour integrals
Contour integrals can be requested for two-dimensional crack propagation
analyses performed using the critical stress, critical crack opening displacement,
or crack length versus time fracture criteria. If the contours are chosen so that
the crack tip passes through the contour, the contour value will go to zero (as it
should). Therefore, in crack propagation analysis contour integrals should be
requested far enough from the crack tip that the crack tip does not pass

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through the contour, which is easily done by including all nodes along the bond
surface in the crack-tip node set specified. See Contour integral evaluation for
details on contour integral output.

Input file template

Abaqus/Standard analysis
*HEADING
…
*BOUNDARY
Data lines to specify zero-valued boundary conditions
*INITIAL CONDITIONS, TYPE=CONTACT (, NORMAL)
Data lines to specify initial conditions
*SURFACE, NAME=slave
Data lines to define slave surface
*SURFACE, NAME=master
Data lines to define master surface
**
*CONTACT PAIR
slave, master
**
*STEP (, NLGEOM)
*STATIC or *VISCO or *COUPLED TEMPERATURE-DISPLACEMENT
*DEBOND, SLAVE=slave, MASTER=master
Data lines to define debonding amplitude curve
*FRACTURE CRITERION, TYPE=type, DISTANCE or NSET
Data lines to define fracture criterion
*BOUNDARY
Data lines to define zero-valued or nonzero boundary conditions
*CLOAD and/or *DLOAD and/or *TEMPERATURE and/or *FIELD
Data lines to define loading
**
*CONTOUR INTEGRAL, CONTOURS=n, TYPE=type
**Contour integrals can be requested in a two-dimensional crack propagation an
*CONTACT PRINT
DBT, DBSF, DBS
*EL PRINT
JK,
*END STEP
**
*STEP
*DIRECT CYCLIC, FATIGUE
*DEBOND, SLAVE=slave, MASTER=master
*FRACTURE CRITERION, TYPE=FATIGUE
Data lines to define material constants used in Paris law and fracture criter
*BOUNDARY
Data lines to define zero-valued or nonzero cyclic boundary conditions
*CLOAD and/or *DLOAD and/or *TEMPERATURE and/or *FIELD
Data lines to define cyclic loading
**
*END STEP
**

Abaqus/Explicit analysis
*HEADING
…
*BOUNDARY
Data lines to specify zero-valued boundary conditions
*SURFACE, NAME=slave
Data lines to define slave surface
*SURFACE, NAME=master
Data lines to define master surface
**
*CONTACT CLEARANCE, NAME=clearance_name,
SEARCH NSET=initially_bonded_nodeset_name
*SURFACE INTERACTION, NAME=interaction_name
*COHESIVE BEHAVIOR
Data lines to specify elastic behavior
*FRACTURE CRITERION, TYPE=VCCT, MIXED MODE BEHAVIOR=BK
**
*STEP
*DYNAMIC, EXPLICIT
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*CONTACT
*CONTACT CLEARANCE ASSIGNMENT
Data lines to assign a clearance name to a surface pair
*CONTACT PROPERTY ASSIGNMENT
Data lines to assign a surface interaction to a surface pair
*END STEP
**

References
Benzeggagh, M., and M. Kenane, “Measurement of Mixed-Mode Delamination
Fracture Toughness of Unidirectional Glass/Epoxy Composites with Mixed-Mode
Bending Apparatus,” Composite Science and Technology, vol. 56 439, 1996.

Reeder, J., S. Kyongchan, P. B. Chunchu, and D. R.. Ambur, “Postbuckling and

Growth of Delaminations in Composite Plates Subjected to Axial
Compression”43rd AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics,
and Materials Conference, Denver, Colorado, vol. 1746, p. 10, 2002.

Wu, E. M., and R. C. Reuter Jr., “Crack Extension in Fiberglass Reinforced

Plastics,” T and M Report, University of Illinois, vol. 275, 1965.

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