A new approach for investigation of damage zone properties in orthotropic materials

Fracture phenomenon in orthotropic materials, generally associates with region called, “damaged zone” in crack tip vicinity. In quasi-brittle materials, this area is known as fracture process zone (FPZ). This area contains a multitude of microcracks, which cause difficulties in analytical process of the region. Also, energy waste in damaged zone can affect the material fracture properties. The characteristics of damaged zone should be considered to figure out the residual strength of composite materials. It also can help to predict the value or even the direction of crack growth of orthotropic materials. So far, several efforts have been made to determine the mechanical properties of this region, but none of them (due to the immense complexity of this region) can express the behavior of this region properly. Moreover, previous approach has not been verified by new experimental and numerical results, yet. In the present study, a new approach “damaged zone simulation (DZS)” is proposed based on the experimental and numerical data, for investigating the orthotropic damaged zone properties. Comparison with existing analytical data shows the capabilities of the presented approach.