A generalised framework for phase field-based modelling of coupled problems: application to thermo-mechanical fracture, hydraulic fracture, hydrogen embrittlement and corrosion
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Navidtehrani, Yousef
Betegón, Covadonga
Martínez-Pañeda, Emilio
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
We present a novel, generalised formulation to treat coupled structural integrity problems by combining phase field and multi-physics modelling. The approach exploits the versatility of the heat transfer equation and is therefore well suited to be adopted in commercial finite element packages, requiring only integration point-level implementation. This aspect is demonstrated here by implementing coupled, multi-variable phenomena through simple UMAT and UMATHT subroutines in the finite element package Abaqus. The generalised theoretical and computational framework presented is particularised to four problems of engineering and scientific relevance: thermo-mechanical fracture, hydraulic fracture, hydrogen-assisted cracking and metallic corrosion. 2D and 3D problems are considered. The results reveal a very good agreement with experimental data, and existing numerical and analytical solutions. The user subroutines developed are made freely available at https://mechmat.web.ox.ac.uk/codes
Date Issued
2025-09-23
Date Acceptance
2025-06-24
Citation
Engineering Fracture Mechanics, 2025, 326
ISSN
0013-7944
Publisher
Elsevier
Journal / Book Title
Engineering Fracture Mechanics
Volume
326
Copyright Statement
© 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
License URL
Identifier
10.1016/j.engfracmech.2025.111363
Publication Status
Published
Article Number
111363
Date Publish Online
2025-07-10