A generalised framework for phase field-based modelling of coupled problems: Application to thermo-mechanical fracture, hydraulic fracture, hydrogen embrittlement and corrosion
Yousef Navidtehrani, Covadonga Betegón, Emilio Martínez‐Pañeda
Abstract
We present a novel, generalised formulation to treat coupled structural integrity problems by combining phase field and multi-physics modelling. The approach exploits the versatility of the heat transfer equation and is therefore well suited to be adopted in commercial finite element packages, requiring only integration point-level implementation. This aspect is demonstrated here by implementing coupled, multi-variable phenomena through simple UMAT and UMATHT subroutines in the finite element package Abaqus . The generalised theoretical and computational framework presented is particularised to four problems of engineering and scientific relevance: thermo-mechanical fracture, hydraulic fracture, hydrogen-assisted cracking and metallic corrosion . 2D and 3D problems are considered. The results reveal a very good agreement with experimental data, and existing numerical and analytical solutions. The user subroutines developed are made freely available at https://mechmat.web.ox.ac.uk/codes .