The features of fracture of heterogeneous materials and frame structures. Potentialities of MCA design

A new promising numerical method named movable cellular automata (MCA) is described. Because this approach is based on the discrete concept, in contradistinction to FEM-based software, the software based on the MCA concept has a few clear advantages. The main one is connected with modeling of real fracture process. The MCA method has been successfully used for modeling dynamic loading of heterogeneous materials and structures. The results of simulations agree closely with the experimental data. The results show that the MCA approach could be really useful to solve a lot of civil engineering problems from materials to constructions. Special software has been developed on the basis of this method. Due to its potentially unique abilities, the MCA method could be considered as a breakthrough in numerical techniques and a new tool of engineering mechanics.