Finite-element investigation of fracture behaviour in elastic–plastic film bonded to elastic substrate

In the present work, the finite element method is used to calculate the J integral and the size of plastic zone at the interfacial crack tip in aluminium film bonded to a ceramic substrate. The plastic behaviour of the stress–strain curve of the aluminium is approximated by a Ramberg–Osgood function and the ceramic has a linear elastic behaviour. The effects of the metal thickness and the crack length on the variation of the J integral at the crack tip were highlighted.