Phase Field Modelling of Dynamic Thermal Fracture in the Context of Irradiation Damage

This work presents a continuum mechanics approach to model fracturing processes in brittle materials that are subjected to rapidly applied high-temperature gradients. Such a type of loading typically occurs when a solid is exposed to an intense high-energy particle beam that deposits a large amount of energy into a small sample volume. Given the rapid energy deposition leading to a fast temperature increase, dynamic effects have to be considered. Our existing phase field model for dynamic fracture is thus extended in a way that allows modelling of thermally induced fracture. A finite element scheme is employed to solve the governing partial differential equations numerically. Finally, the functionality of our model is illustrated by two examples.