Identification of the 3D fracture process zone for refractory materials by digital volume correlation combined with finite element analyses

• Grant number: 21/09238-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: November 15, 2021
• End date: November 14, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Materials and Metallurgical Engineering - Nonmetallic Materials
• Principal Investigator: Rodrigo Bresciani Canto
• Grantee: Rafael Vargas Maginador
• Supervisor: François Hild
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Exatas e de Tecnologia (CCET). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Université Paris-Saclay, France
• Associated to the scholarship: 18/23081-0 - Fracture mechanisms of refractories at room and elevated temperatures analyzed with wedge splitting tests and image correlation, BP.DR

Abstract

High temperature and corrosive environments in which castable refractories are utilized involve high risks. In this context, the characterization of their fracture properties becomes extremely important, and an essential tool for the correct selection, application, development and research of these materials. However, crack propagation features depend on the underlying microstructure and heterogeneity, thereby creating a Fracture Process Zone (FPZ), i.e., an energy dissipating region near the crack tip. If crack propagation is studied with surface data alone, much information from the fracture process in the bulk is not available. In this internship project, it is proposed to obtain insight about the FPZ using volumetric data acquired via in-situ Wedge Splitting Tests (WSTs) performed in an X-ray scanner. The displacement field will be experimentally measured with Digital Volume Correlation and will be used as boundary conditions to drive finite element simulations. The measured displacement field will also be confronted to the simulated kinematics to check its validity. Relevant mechanical parameters will be extracted as the minimizers of the chi-squared norm of the difference between measured and simulated data (i.e., load and displacement fields). This methodology will be used to obtain parameters that match as best as possible the experimental results with computer simulations. The FPZ would then be measurable from damaged elements, and computer simulations would consider the wake effects given by energy dissipation mechanisms (e.g., mechanical union of aggregates after cracking, crack branching and microcracking). This information will also give insight about the 3D crack path. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

VARGAS, R.; CANTO, R. B.; SMANIOTTO, B.; HILD, F.. Calibration of cohesive parameters for a castable refractory using 4D tomographic data and realistic crack path from in-situ wedge splitting test. Journal of the European Ceramic Society, v. 43, n. 2, p. 16-pg., 2023-02-01. (18/23081-0, 21/09238-6, 20/08077-6)

VARGAS, R.; CANTO, R. B.; HILD, F.. Cohesive properties of refractory castable at 600 degrees C: Effect of sintering and testing temperature. Journal of the European Ceramic Society, v. 42, n. 14, p. 17-pg., 2022-08-13. (18/15266-0, 20/08077-6, 18/23081-0, 21/09238-6)

SCIUTI, VINICIUS FIOCCO; VARGAS, RAFAEL; GUERRERO, NESTOR; MARANTE, MARIA EUGENIA; HILD, FRANCOIS. Digital image correlation analyses of masonry infilled frame: Uncertainty-based mesh refinement and damage quantification. MATHEMATICS AND MECHANICS OF SOLIDS, v. N/A, p. 23-pg., 2023-07-24. (18/23081-0, 21/09238-6)