MICROMECHANICS ANALYSIS ON EVOLUTION OF CRACK IN VISCOELASTIC MATERIALS

A preliminary analysis on crack evolution in viscoelastic materials was presented Based on the equivalent inclusion concept of micro mechanics theory, the explicit expressions of crack opening displacement δ and energy release rate G were derived,indicating that both δ and G are increasing with time. The equivalent modulus of the viscoelastic solid comprising cracks was evaluated. It is proved that the decrease of the modulus comes from two mechanisms: one is the viscoelasticity of the material; the other is the crack opening which is getting larger with time.