3D Stress Fields Versus Void Distributions Ahead of a Notch Tip for Semi-crystalline Polymers

The creep durability of engineering structures relies on the theory of Fracture Mechanics for Creeping Solids (FMCS). The studied material is a semi-crystalline polymer. The lifespan of plastic pipes being generally specified in terms of years of service, its prediction requires reliable constitutive models accounting for time dependent deformation under multiaxial stress states and failure criteria based on the mechanisms of damage and failure. Here, an experimental approach was developed so as to analyze the mechanisms of deformation and cavitation at the microstructural scale by using 3D imaging (tomography/laminography). Three stress triaxiality ratios were addressed using various notched specimen geometries. The void characteristic dimensions (volume fraction, height and diameter) were then measured by defining a volume of interest. The spatial distributions of these characteristics at a prescribed creep time were observed to be dependent on the stress triaxiality ratio. A finite element constitutive model using the porosity as an internal variable, was selected. Comparison of the multiscale experimental database with those simulated at the macroscopic scale as well as at the microstructure level was satisfactory. In the light of the finite element results, the principal stress singularities were in good agreement with the void characteristic lengths