• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.221-228
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• 1989

The objective of this paper is to develop a numerical technique for analyzing crack driving forces in multi-phase materials. The analysis was based on finite element method coupled with a virtual crack extension technique which is known as the most efficient tool in computational fracture mechanics analysis. The modified J-integral method, proposed by Miyamoto and Kikuchi for the analysis of dual-phase material was carried out by subtracting the J-values for contours surrounding each phase boundary from the J-values for overall contour. It was shown that the proposed numerical procedure, based on the modified J-integral coupled with a virtual crack extension technique, can be used as an effective numerical tool for determining crack driving forces in multi-phase materials.