The Extended Finite Element Method Numerical and Experimental Analysis of Mechanical Behavior of Polysulfone/58s Bioactive Glass Synthesized through Solvent Casting Method

The composites derived from the bioactive glasses, such as BG/polysulfone, have better mechanical properties than pure materials and their characteristics are closer to human bone. In this study, the unknown fracture behavior of 58s BG/PSF composite has been investigated. The extended finite element method (XFEM) was used, in order to model the fracture behavior of 58s BG/PSF composite with greater accuracy. The XFEM doesn’t require remeshing at each step and achieves the precise approximation of singularities by incorporating discontinuity behavior into the elements using the enrichment functions. The aim of using the XFEM was to obtain stress intensity factors, displacements, stress and strain around the crack tip, fracture toughness as well as strain energy release rate. Moreover, the 58s BG/PSF composite with 30% bioactive glass particles was synthesized using solvent casting method and the bending failure test was performed according to the relevant standard. Also, to demonstrate the quality of the interface between the glass particles and polysulfone, SEM investigation was performed on the fracture surface. The obtained fracture toughness was in the range of 1.4 to 1.6 , and the strain energy release rate was in the range of 1600 to 1900 J.m-2, which was comparable to the same properties of natural human bone. Besides, the stress intensity factors and strain energy release rates were calculated by coding in MATLAB and modeling in ABAQUS, and the numerical results were validated with the analytical and experimental data and it was revealed that the numerical results were in great coordinance with the analytical and experimental results.