Fracture energy based constitutive models for tensile fracture of metal powder compacts

Diametral compression test or the Brazilian disc test is commonly used to characterise the tensile strength of brittle materials. A general fracture model based on energy assumptions is proposed for simulation of the discrete and localised tensile fracturing process in metal powder. The characteristics of the tensile fracture development of the central crack in diametral tested specimen is numerically studied. The softening rate of the model is obtained from the corresponding rate of the dissipated energy. Finite element simulations of the diametral compression test are performed with the proposed tensile fracture model used in conjunction with a Cap model for the deformation of the powder material. The results agree reasonably with experiments.