A damage-friction interface model derived from micromechanical approach

The present paper deals with a micromechanical model of interface able to couple the damage (micro-crack) evolution, the non-penetration conditions (Signorini equations) and the friction effect (Coulomb’s law). At a typical point of the interface, a Representative Volume Element (RVE) is considered; it is characterized by the presence of two different materials and by a microcrack evolving along the material discontinuity. Thus, a deductive approach based on a micromechanical analysis and on a homogenization procedure is proposed, in order to derive an imperfect, i.e. soft, interface model. In particular, the solution of the micromechanical problem on the RVE is determined considering three subproblems and properly superimposing their solutions. Then, a simplified micromechanical approach is performed by modeling the behavior of the material constituting the RVE in a very essential manner. Evolutionary laws for the crack growth are given and the equations governing the unilateral and friction phenomena are presented. In particular, the original proposed procedure is applied to derive an interface model for masonry structures considering the brick-mortar ha l-0 07 48 77 8, v er si on 1 6 N ov 2 01 2 Author manuscript, published in "International Journal of Solids and Structures 49 (2012) 3666-3680" DOI : 10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2012.07.028