Nonlinear interfacial contact laws in multi-layer elastic-viscoelastic structural systems

This study proposes a constitutive mechanical law to model the behavior of the interface between a microcracked viscoelastic medium and an undamaged elastic body based on the homogenization method. The interface is modeled by a layer of zero thickness. The coupling between the homogenization technique and the Griffith’s theory is used to provide the effective behavior of the micro-cracked medium.