Fracture and crack profile fictitious crack modeling of porous poly(methyl methacrylate)

This article presents the fracture behavior and applicability of the fictitious crack (FC) model to describe the fracture of a porous poly(Me methacrylate) material. Two test geometries, wedge-opening load and single-edge-notched beam, were employed under two different test conditions (room temp. and in water at 45 DegC); all presented quasibrittle fracture behavior. The crack profile of a wedge-opening load sample was visualized and measured with the digital image correlation technique. The mech. response of all the samples, including the crack profile, was successfully modeled with the FC model, and this showed the good applicability of this model to the fracture of this granular poly(Me methacrylate) material