A nonlocal peridynamics modeling approach for corrosion damage and crack propagation

[Display omitted] •Micro-chemically sensitive peridynamic modeling approach for corrosion damage.•Corrosion pits lead to incipient crack and growth under external loading.•Models pit nucleation, growth, coalescence, crack initiation and branching.•Crack propagation behavior is dependent on the extent of corrosion or pre-corrosion. Corrosion and its synergistic interactions with mechanical loading are a major cause of damage and failure of structural components. In this work, we present a recently developed peridynamics model for modeling corrosion damage and resulting crack propagation phenomena under synergistic effects of corrosion and mechanical loading. The approach is based on nonlocal peridynamics theory that replaces governing equations of classical continuum mechanics with integro-differential equations that are easy to solve across discontinuities like cracks. Here we introduce a micro-chemically sensitive peridynamic modeling approach developed for corrosion damage phenomena. First we introduce the theoretical approach and then simplify it to obtain a peridynamic model for mechanistic corrosion damage and crack propagation. Subsequently, numerical simulations are used demonstrate the capabilities of the peridynamic model for capturing mechanics of corroding solid. The framework is able to capture corrosion pitting, nucleation, crack path propagation under synergistic influence of corrosion and mechanical loading, without the need to re-mesh the domain or special numerical treatments. The developed peridynamic approach provides a physics-based alternative to conventional theories and enables crack propagation studies in corrosive environments.