Computational Mechanics

We will present a meshfree method based on the local partition of unity for cohesive cracks. The cracks are described by a jump in the displacement field for particles whose domain of influence is cut by the crack. Particles with partially cut domain of influence are enriched with branch functions. Crack propagation is governed by the material stability condition. Due to the smoothness and higher order continuity, the method is very accurate which is demonstrated for several quasi static and dynamic crack propagation examples.

This paper proposes a three-dimensional meshfree method for arbitrary crack initiation and propagation that ensures crack path continuity for non-linear material models and cohesive laws. The method is based on a local partition of unity. An extrinsic enrichment of the meshfree shape functions is used with discontinuous and near-front branch functions to close the crack front and improve accuracy. The crack is hereby modeled as a jump in the displacement field. The initiation and propagation of a crack is determined by the loss of hyperbolicity or the loss of material stability criterion. The method is applied to several static, quasi-static and dynamic crack problems. The numerical results very precisely replicate available experimental and analytical results.