Numerical simulation of brittle fracture of thin-walled structures1

The model of brittle material, allowing for the determination of initiation and growth of cracks in thin-walled structures up to their destruction, is offered. Solutions of some problems are submitted: destruction of a plate at a homogeneous stress state; destruction of a beam at a pure bending; dynamic deformation and destruction of a plate with the concentrated mass having various initial speeds. Destruction of part of the material of the plate is shown to result in dynamic loss of stability of the solution.