Modeling of Hydrostatic Pressure Effect on Progressive Damage in Particulate Composites

Abstract Hydrostatic pressure affects the damage growth in a particulate composite. As a result, an analytical model was presented to represent the damage growth in a particulate composite under various hydrostatic pressures. The model was based on a multi-level approach with damage description at the micro-level. A damage theory was presented to describe the material behavior under hydrostatic pressure. The predicted stress-strain curves compared well with the experimental measurements. Furthermore, the initial crack size at a notch tip was studied with and without hydrostatic pressure.