An element‐free Galerkin method for 3D crack propagation simulation under complicated stress conditions

This study develops an element‐free Galerkin method based on the moving least‐squares approximation to trace three‐dimensional crack propagation under complicated stress conditions. The crack surfaces are modelled by a collection of planar triangles that are added when cracks propagate. The visibility criterion is adopted to treat the screening effect of the cracks on the influenced domain of a Gaussian point. Cracks are assumed to propagate in the perpendicular planes at crack front points when the strain energy release rates reach the material fracture toughness. This method is unique in that it uses a nonlinear contact iterative algorithm to consider contributions of crack surface interaction to the global equilibrium equations, so that crack opening, sliding and closing under complicated stress states can be efficiently modelled. Two numerical examples of three‐dimensional quasi‐static crack propagation were modelled with satisfactory results. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Adaptive crack propagation analysis with the element‐free Galerkin method

In this paper, an adaptive analysis of crack propagation based on the error estimation by the element‐free Galerkin (EFG) method is presented. The adaptivity analysis in quasi‐static crack propagation is achieved by adding and/or removing the nodes along the background integration cells, those are refined or recovered according to the estimated errors. These errors are obtained basically by calculating the difference between the values of the projected stresses and original EFG stresses. To evaluate the performance of the proposed adaptive procedure, the crack propagation behaviour is investigated for several examples. The results of these examples show the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed scheme in crack propagation analysis. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Element‐local level set method for three‐dimensional dynamic crack growth

An approximate level set method for three‐dimensional crack propagation is presented. In this method, the discontinuity surface in each cracked element is defined by element‐local level sets (ELLSs). The local level sets are generated by a fitting procedure that meets the fracture directionality and its continuity with the adjacent element crack surfaces in a least‐square sense. A simple iterative procedure is introduced to improve the consistency of the generated element crack surface with those of the adjacent cracked elements. The discrete discontinuity is treated by the phantom node method which is a simplified version of the extended finite element method (XFEM). The ELLS method and the phantom node technology are combined for the solution of dynamic fracture problems. Numerical examples for three‐dimensional dynamic crack propagation are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed method. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The dimension splitting and improved complex variable element‐free Galerkin method for 3‐dimensional transient heat conduction problems

In this paper, by combining the dimension splitting method and the improved complex variable element‐free Galerkin method, the dimension splitting and improved complex variable element‐free Galerkin (DS‐ICVEFG) method is presented for 3‐dimensional (3D) transient heat conduction problems. Using the dimension splitting method, a 3D transient heat conduction problem is translated into a series of 2‐dimensional ones, which can be solved with the improved complex variable element‐free Galerkin (ICVEFG) method. In the ICVEFG method for each 2‐dimensional problem, the improved complex variable moving least‐square approximation is used to obtain the shape functions, and the penalty method is used to apply the essential boundary conditions. Finite difference method is used in the 1‐dimensional direction, and the Galerkin weak form of 3D transient heat conduction problem is used to obtain the final discretized equations. Then, the DS‐ICVEFG method for 3D transient heat conduction problems is presented. Four numerical examples are given to show that the new method has higher computational precision and efficiency.     

The simple boundary element method for multiple cracks in functionally graded media governed by potential theory: a three‐dimensional Galerkin approach

The simple boundary element method consists of recycling existing codes for homogeneous media to solve problems in non‐homogeneous media while maintaining a purely boundary‐only formulation. Within this scope, this paper presents a ‘simple’ Galerkin boundary element method for multiple cracks in problems governed by potential theory in functionally graded media. Steady‐state heat conduction is investigated for thermal conductivity varying either parabolically, exponentially, or trigonometrically in one or more co‐ordinates. A three‐dimensional implementation which merges the dual boundary integral equation technique with the Galerkin approach is presented. Special emphasis is given to the treatment of crack surfaces and boundary conditions. The test examples simulated with the present method are verified with finite element results using graded finite elements. The numerical examples demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the present method especially when multiple interacting cracks are involved. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Time‐domain Galerkin method for dynamic load identification

This paper proposes a new method called time‐domain Galerkin method (TDGM) for investigating the structural dynamic load identification problems. Firstly, the shape functions are adopted to approximate three parameters, such as the dynamic load, kernel function response, and measured structural response Secondly, defining a residual function could be expressed as the difference of the measured response and the computational response. Thirdly, select an appropriate weighting function to multiply the defined residual function and make integral operation with respect to time to be zero. Finally, when the shape functions are chosen as the weighting function, it establishes the forward model called TDGM. Furthermore, the regularization method could have effectiveness in solving the ill‐posed matrix of load reconstruction and obtaining the accurate identified results of the dynamic load. Compared with the traditional Green kernel function method (GKFM), TDGM can effectively overcome the influences of noise and improve the accuracy of the dynamic load identification. Three numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the correctness and advantages of TDGM. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Efficient dynamic finite element method for 3D objects with uniform cross‐section

An efficient implicit dynamic finite element method (FEM) for elastic 3D objects with uniform cross‐sections was developed. In this method, the finite element mesh is generated in such a way that the object to be analysed is at first sliced into layers with the same thickness along its generatrix and then each layer is discretized into finite elements of the same pattern. This way of discretization makes the mass, viscosity, and stiffness matrices into the repetitive block tridiagonal matrices. The repetitive block tridiagonal matrix has the characteristic, that the sequence of matrices which appears in the Gaussian elimination for the repetitive block tridiagonal matrix is a rapid convergent sequence. The process of the Gaussian elimination can be terminated when the sequence converges. The rest of the sequence is not necessary to be stored. The present method can save the computational time and memory by utilising this characteristic of the repetitive block tridiagonal matrix. A few examples of analyses including whole Hopkinson‐bar analysis were performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the present method. The present method is applicable not only to the elasto‐dynamics but also to many other problems, such as thermal problems, electrical problems, and plastic problems without geometric non‐linearity. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Finite‐deformation irreversible cohesive elements for three‐dimensional crack‐propagation analysis

We develop a three‐dimensional finite‐deformation cohesive element and a class of irreversible cohesive laws which enable the accurate and efficient tracking of dynamically growing cracks. The cohesive element governs the separation of the crack flanks in accordance with an irreversible cohesive law, eventually leading to the formation of free surfaces, and is compatible with a conventional finite element discretization of the bulk material. The versatility and predictive ability of the method is demonstrated through the simulation of a drop‐weight dynamic fracture test similar to those reported by Zehnder and Rosakis. The ability of the method to approximate the experimentally observed crack‐tip trajectory is particularly noteworthy. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

One‐dimensional dispersion analysis for the element‐free Galerkin method for the Helmholtz equation

The standard finite element method (FEM) is unreliable to compute approximate solutions of the Helmholtz equation for high wave numbers due to the dispersion, unless highly refined meshes are used, leading to unacceptable resolution times. The paper presents an application of the element‐free Galerkin method (EFG) and focuses on the dispersion analysis in one dimension. It shows that, if the basis contains the solution of the homogenized Helmholtz equation, it is possible to eliminate the dispersion in a very natural way while it is not the case for the finite element methods. For the general case, it also shows that it is possible to choose the parameters of the method in order to minimize the dispersion. Finally, theoretical developments are validated by numerical experiments showing that, for the same distribution of nodes, the element‐free Galerkin method solution is much more accurate than the finite element one. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

hp‐Generalized FEM and crack surface representation for non‐planar 3‐D cracks

A high‐order generalized finite element method (GFEM) for non‐planar three‐dimensional crack surfaces is presented. Discontinuous p‐hierarchical enrichment functions are applied to strongly graded tetrahedral meshes automatically created around crack fronts. The GFEM is able to model a crack arbitrarily located within a finite element (FE) mesh and thus the proposed method allows fully automated fracture analysis using an existing FE discretization without cracks. We also propose a crack surface representation that is independent of the underlying GFEM discretization and controlled only by the physics of the problem. The representation preserves continuity of the crack surface while being able to represent non‐planar, non‐smooth, crack surfaces inside of elements of any size. The proposed representation also provides support for the implementation of accurate, robust, and computationally efficient numerical integration of the weak form over elements cut by the crack surface. Numerical simulations using the proposed GFEM show high convergence rates of extracted stress intensity factors along non‐planar curved crack fronts and the robustness of the method. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

无单元Galerkin方法中周期边界条件的处理

本文研究了无单元Galerkin方法中周期边界条件的处理技术,将Lagrange乘子法用于周期边界条件的处理.数值计算结果表明,该方法具有较高的计算精度.另外,它与无单元Galerkin方法中本质边界条件处理的Lagrange乘子法具有统一性,对于周期、本质混合型边界条件的处理尤为方便.     

Accuracy of Galerkin finite elements for groundwater flow simulations in two and three‐dimensional triangulations

In standard finite element simulations of groundwater flow the correspondence between hydraulic head gradients and groundwater fluxes is represented by the stiffness matrix. In two‐dimensional problems the use of linear triangular elements on Delaunay triangulations guarantees a stiffness matrix of type M. This implies that the local numerical fluxes are physically consistent with Darcy's law. This condition is fundamental to avoid the occurrence of local maxima or minima, and is of crucial importance when the calculated flow field is used in contaminant transport simulations or pathline evaluation. In three spatial dimensions, the linear Galerkin approach on tetrahedra does not lead to M‐matrices even on Delaunay meshes. By interpretation of the Galerkin approach as a subdomain collocation scheme, we develop a new approach (OSC, orthogonal subdomain collocation) that is shown to produce M‐matrices in three‐dimensional Delaunay triangulations. In case of heterogeneous and anisotropic coefficients, extra mesh properties required for M‐stiffness matrices will also be discussed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An adaptive cracking particle method for 2D crack propagation

Computational modelling of fracture has been attempted in the past with a range of numerical approaches including finite element, extended finite element and meshless methods. The cracking particle method (CPM) of Rabczuk is a pragmatic alternative to explicit modelling of crack surfaces in which a crack is represented by a set of cracking particles that can be easily updated when the crack propagates. The change of cracking angle is recorded in discrete segments of broken lines, which makes this methodology suitable to model discontinuous cracks. In this paper, a new CPM is presented that improves on two counts: firstly, crack path curvature modelling is improved by the use of bilinear segments centred at each particle and secondly, efficiency for larger problems is improved via an adaptive process of both refinement and recovery. The system stiffness is calculated and stored in local matrices, so only a small influenced domain should be recalculated for each step while the remainder can be read directly from storage, which greatly reduces the computational expense. The methodology is applied to several 2D crack problems, and good agreement to analytical solutions and previous work is obtained. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An enriched meshless method for non‐linear fracture mechanics

This paper presents an enriched meshless method for fracture analysis of cracks in homogeneous, isotropic, non‐linear‐elastic, two‐dimensional solids, subject to mode‐I loading conditions. The method involves an element‐free Galerkin formulation and two new enriched basis functions (Types I and II) to capture the Hutchinson–Rice–Rosengren singularity field in non‐linear fracture mechanics. The Type I enriched basis function can be viewed as a generalized enriched basis function, which degenerates to the linear‐elastic basis function when the material hardening exponent is unity. The Type II enriched basis function entails further improvements of the Type I basis function by adding trigonometric functions. Four numerical examples are presented to illustrate the proposed method. The boundary layer analysis indicates that the crack‐tip field predicted by using the proposed basis functions matches with the theoretical solution very well in the whole region considered, whether for the near‐tip asymptotic field or for the far‐tip elastic field. Numerical analyses of standard fracture specimens by the proposed meshless method also yield accurate estimates of the J‐integral for the applied load intensities and material properties considered. Also, the crack‐mouth opening displacement evaluated by the proposed meshless method is in good agreement with finite element results. Furthermore, the meshless results show excellent agreement with the experimental measurements, indicating that the new basis functions are also capable of capturing elastic–plastic deformations at a stress concentration effectively. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

对流扩散方程的特征线EFG算法

为了消除对流扩散方程因对流占优引起的数值震荡,本文首先将其转化为特征形式,并利用移动最小二乘基函数,构建了特征线无单元Galerkin方法．再对新建方法进行收敛性分析,分别给出关于支持域半径和时间步长的两种误差估计．最后,分别针对一维和二维算例进行了数值计算,并与有限元法进行了比较．数值结果表明,本文算法收敛性好,可以消除数值震荡,且通过选取合适的罚因子和支持域的无量纲尺寸,计算精度比有限元法更高,是求解对流占优扩散方程的一种有效程数值计算方法．     

A quasi‐static discontinuous Galerkin configurational force crack propagation method for brittle materials

This paper presents a framework for r‐adaptive quasi‐static configurational force (CF) brittle crack propagation, cast within a discontinuous Galerkin (DG) symmetric interior penalty (SIPG) finite element scheme. Cracks are propagated in discrete steps, with a staggered algorithm, along element interfaces, which align themselves with the predicted crack propagation direction. The key novelty of the work is the exploitation of the DG face stiffness terms existing along element interfaces to propagate a crack in a mesh‐independent r‐adaptive quasi‐static fashion, driven by the CF at the crack tip. This adds no new degrees of freedom to the data structure. Additionally, as DG methods have element‐specific degrees of freedom, a geometry‐driven p‐adaptive algorithm is also easily included allowing for more accurate solutions of the CF on a moving crack front. Further, for nondeterminant systems, we introduce an average boundary condition that restrains rigid body motion leading to a determinant system. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first time that such a boundary condition has been described. The proposed formulation is validated against single and multiple crack problems with single‐ and mixed‐mode cracks, demonstrating the predictive capabilities of the method.     

A 2‐D meshless model for jointed rock structures

According to the characteristic structural features of jointed rock structures, a meshless model is proposed for the mechanics analysis of jointed rock structures based on the moving least‐squares interpolants. In this model, a jointed rock structure is regarded as a system of relatively intact rock blocks connected by joints or planes of discontinuity; these rock blocks are modelled by general shaped anisotropic blocks while these joints and planes of discontinuity are modelled by interfaces. The displacement field of each block is constructed by the moving least‐squares interpolants with an array of points distributed in the block. To deal with the discontinuities of rock structures, the displacement fields are constructed to be discontinuous between blocks. The displacement fields and their gradients are continuous in each block, hence no post processing is required for the output of strains and stresses. The finite element mesh is totally unnecessary, so the time‐consuming mesh generation is avoided. The rate of convergence can exceed that of finite elements significantly, and a high resolution of localized steep gradients can be achieved. Furthermore, the discontinuities of rock structures are also fully taken into consideration. The present method is developed for two‐dimensional linear elastic analysis of jointed rock structures, and can be extended to three‐dimensional and non‐linear analysis. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A time‐dependent formulation of dual boundary element method for 3D dynamic crack problems

In this paper, the dual boundary element method in time domain is developed for three‐dimensional dynamic crack problems. The boundary integral equations for displacement and traction in time domain are presented. By using the displacement equation and traction equation on crack surfaces, the discontinuity displacement on the crack can be determined. The integral equations are solved numerically by a time‐stepping technique with quadratic boundary elements. The dynamic stress intensity factors are calculated from the crack opening displacement. Several examples are presented to demonstrate the accuracy of this method. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd     

Symmetric‐Galerkin BEM simulation of fracture with frictional contact

A symmetric‐Galerkin boundary element framework for fracture analysis with frictional contact (crack friction) on the crack surfaces is presented. The algorithm employs a continuous interpolation on the crack surface (utilizing quadratic boundary elements) and enables the determination of two important quantities for the problem, namely the local normal tractions and sliding displacements on the crack surfaces. An effective iterative scheme for solving this non‐linear boundary value problem is proposed. The results of test examples are compared with available analytical solutions or with those obtained from the displacement discontinuity method (DDM) using linear elements and internal collocation. The results demonstrate that the method works well for difficult kinked/junction crack problems. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Locking in the incompressible limit for the element‐free Galerkin method

Volumetric locking (locking in the incompressible limit) for linear elastic isotropic materials is studied in the context of the element‐free Galerkin method. The modal analysis developed here shows that the number of non‐physical locking modes is independent of the dilation parameter (support of the interpolation functions). Thus increasing the dilation parameter does not suppress locking. Nevertheless, an increase in the dilation parameter does reduce the energy associated with the non‐physical locking modes; thus, in part, it alleviates the locking phenomena. This is shown for linear and quadratic orders of consistency. Moreover, the biquadratic order of consistency, as in finite elements, improves the locking behaviour. Although more locking modes are present in the element‐free Galerkin method with quadratic consistency than with standard biquadratic finite elements. Finally, numerical examples are shown to validate the modal analysis. In particular, the conclusions of the modal analysis are also confirmed in an elastoplastic example. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.