Numerical and experimental investigation for crack propagation in center notched circular brazen tube

A new finite element model has been presented for simulation of deformation mode, fracture mechanism and crack growth in center-notched circular brazen tubes. Among the different energy absorption mechanisms, splitting process has proved to be more efficiency than the others due to converting permanent peak loads to a lower steady load but most splitting process used heavy conical dies which decrease the efficiency of the specimens, so new model of splitting using center-notched specimens has been offered. For numerical modeling of splitting process and crack propagation process, surface-based cohesive technique has been used. Important parameters of surface-based cohesive model are obtained from results of stress-strain diagram of simple tensile test. For validation of numerical results, experimental method is has been chosen. For implementation of experimental procedure, the specimens were prepared by cutting the commercial brazen tube and some center notches were created in tube using special technique of wire cutting. The specimens were axially compressed between two rigid plates on top and bottom using Zwick testing machine. Excellent agreement were found between numerical simulations and experimental tests. The effects of parameters such as number of initial notches and initial length of notches on energy absorption capacity of specimens are investigated, numerically