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Arbitrary branched and intersecting cracks with the extended finite element method
Author(s) -
Daux Christophe,
Moës Nicolas,
Dolbow John,
Sukumar Natarajan,
Belytschko Ted
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
international journal for numerical methods in engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.421
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1097-0207
pISSN - 0029-5981
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0207(20000830)48:12<1741::aid-nme956>3.0.co;2-l
Subject(s) - classification of discontinuities , finite element method , computation , partition of unity , extended finite element method , robustness (evolution) , geometry , polygon mesh , mathematics , representation (politics) , structural engineering , mathematical analysis , algorithm , engineering , biochemistry , chemistry , politics , political science , law , gene
Extensions of a new technique for the finite element modelling of cracks with multiple branches, multiple holes and cracks emanating from holes are presented. This extended finite element method (X‐FEM) allows the representation of crack discontinuities and voids independently of the mesh. A standard displacement‐based approximation is enriched by incorporating discontinuous fields through a partition of unity method. A methodology that constructs the enriched approximation based on the interaction of the discontinuous geometric features with the mesh is developed. Computation of the stress intensity factors (SIF) in different examples involving branched and intersecting cracks as well as cracks emanating from holes are presented to demonstrate the accuracy and the robustness of the proposed technique. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.