A strength based thermo-mechanical coupled cohesive zone model for simulating heat flux induced interface debonding

A thermo-mechanical strength based cohesive zone model is proposed to simulate the behaviour of an imperfect interface. In this model, the load transfer behaviour is described by the strength model rather than the traditional traction-separation law, and the heat transfer behaviour is delineated by the interface conductance including the bonding conductance, the air conductance and the contact conductance. A new damage state variable is introduced in the derivation, which needs to be updated even during the elastic stage. A reasonable assumption is made to reduce the dimension of the failure surface to simplify the model. The proposed model is validated by the comparison of the simulating results and experimental data. It is concluded that the thermo-mechanical strength based cohesive zone model provides the interaction mechanism between interface load and heat transfer and can effectively simulate the interface behaviour at various temperatures.