PNNL

Abstract

The objective of this study is to investigate the deformation behavior of ductile phase toughened W-composites such as W-Cu and W-Ni-Fe by means of a multiscale finite element model that involves a microstructural dual-phase model where the constituent phases (i.e., W, Cu, Ni-Fe) are finely discretized and are described by a continuum damage model. Such a model is suitable for modeling deformation, cracking, and crack bridging for W-Cu, W-Ni-Fe, and other ductile phase toughened W-composites, or more generally, any multi-phase composite structure where two or more phases undergo cooperative deformation in a composite system. Our current work focuses on simulating the response and damage development of the W-Cu specimen subjected to three-point bending.