Interface damage model for thermomechanical degradation of heterogeneous materials Original Research Article

In this paper we examine the degradation of interface transition zones in heterogeneous materials due to thermal and mechanical damage. After a brief introduction of zero-thickness interface models, we will address three topics, (a) the interaction of normal and tangential damage at the interface level of observation, (b) the interaction of thermal and mechanical damage when thermal softening is coupled with mechanical degradation, and (c) the effect of interface damage on the load resistance of heterogeneous composites such as concrete when thermal softening leads to massive degradation of their load resistance.