The Phase Field in Solids (pfs) interface (
), found in the
Moving Interfaces folder (
) under the
Mathematics branch (
) when adding a physics interface, is used for modeling the evolution of sharp interfaces in solids, such as those associated with damage, fracture, and grain boundaries.
When this physics interface is added, these default nodes are also added to the Model Builder: Phase Field Model,
No Flux (prescribing no flux in the phase field variable across all external boundaries on which no other boundary condition has been specified), and
Initial Values. Then, from the
Physics toolbar, you can add other nodes that implement, for example, boundary conditions and source terms. You can also right-click
Phase Field in Solids to select physics features from the context menu.
The Label is the default physics interface name.
The Name is used primarily as a scope prefix for variables defined by the physics interface. Refer to such physics interface variables in expressions using the pattern
<name>.<variable_name>. In order to distinguish between variables belonging to different physics interfaces, the
name string must be unique. Only letters, numbers, and underscores (_) are permitted in the
Name field. The first character must be a letter.
The default Name (for the first physics interface in the model) is
pfs.
In the Phase Field in Solids interface, you can choose not only the order of the discretization, but also the type of shape functions: Lagrange or
serendipity. For highly distorted elements, Lagrange shape functions provide better accuracy than serendipity shape functions of the same order. The serendipity shape functions will however give significant reductions of the model size for a given mesh containing hexahedral, prism, or quadrilateral elements. In 1D components, there is no difference between Lagrange and serendipity shape functions.
) and select Advanced Physics Options in the Show More Options dialog box.
) and Remove dependent variable (
) buttons as needed.