Phase Field Modeling of Hydrogen-Enhanced Crack Propagation Using FEniCSx

Abstract

In this study, a phase field model is adapted to simulate crack propagation under hydrogen embrittlement using the open-source finite element environment FEniCSx. Initially, a model originally implemented in an earlier version, known as legacy FEniCS, is converted to work with the latest version, FEniCSx. First, the converted model is tested using the same setup to verify the implementation. After this verification, the converted model is tested on four different benchmark geometries commonly used in fracture studies, without considering hydrogen embrittlement. As a final step, the hydrogen embrittlement model is incorporated and tested on cracked plate and compact tension geometries.