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A comparative study on finite element methods for dynamic fracture

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Abstract

The performance of finite element methods for dynamic crack propagation in brittle materials is studied. Three methods are considered: the extended finite element method (XFEM), element deletion method and interelement crack method. The extended finite element method is a method for arbitrary crack propagation without remeshing. In element deletion methods, elements that meet a fracture criterion are deleted. In interelement crack methods, the crack is limited to element edges; the separation of these edges is governed by a cohesive law. We show that XFEM and interelement method show similar crack speeds and crack paths. However, both fail to predict a benchmark experiment without adjustment of the energy release rate. The element deletion method performs very poorly for the refinements studied, and is unable to predict crack branching.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 60208-3111, USA

    Jeong-Hoon Song, Hongwu Wang & Ted Belytschko

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  1. Jeong-Hoon Song
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  2. Hongwu Wang
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  3. Ted Belytschko
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Correspondence to Ted Belytschko.

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Song, JH., Wang, H. & Belytschko, T. A comparative study on finite element methods for dynamic fracture. Comput Mech 42, 239–250 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00466-007-0210-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00466-007-0210-x

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