Stress-corrosion coupled damage localization induced by secondary phases in bio-degradable Mg alloys: phase-field modeling

In this study, a phase-field scheme that rigorously obeys conservation laws and irreversible thermodynamics is developed for modeling stress-corrosion coupled damage (SCCD). The coupling constitutive relationships of the deformation, phase-field damage, mass transfer, and electrostatic field are derived from the entropy inequality. The SCCD localization induced by secondary phases in Mg is numerically simulated using the implicit iterative algorithm of the self-defined finite elements. The quantitative evaluation of the SCCD of a C-ring is in good agreement with the experimental results. To capture the damage localization, a micro-galvanic corrosion domain is defined, and the buffering effect on charge migration is explored. Three cases are investigated to reveal the effect of localization on corrosion acceleration and provide guidance for the design for resistance to SCCD at the crystal scale.