%V 34
%I Elsevier
%P 2713-2722
%T Image analysis of polycrystalline solar cells and modeling of intergranular and transgranular cracking
%R 10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2013.12.051
%N 11
%J Journal of the European Ceramic Society 
%X An innovative image analysis technique is proposed to process real solar cell pictures, identify grains and grain boundaries in polycrystalline Silicon, and finally generate finite element meshes. Using a modified intrinsic cohesive zone model approach to avoid mesh dependency, nonlinear finite element simulations show how grain boundaries and Silicon bulk properties influence the crack pattern. Numerical results demonstrate a prevalence of transgranular over intergranular cracking for similar interface fracture properties of grains and grain boundaries, in general agreement with the experimental observation.
%L eprints2302
%D 2014
%A Andrea Infuso
%A Mauro Corrado
%A Marco Paggi