Smeared and discrete representations of localized fracture

The possibilities of smeared and discrete crack concepts for simulating localized fracture in softening materials are investigated. First, comparisons are made between fixed, multi-directional and rotating smeared cracks, whereby the crack orientation is kept constant, updated in a stepwise manner or updated continuously, respectively. Next, the smeared approaches are compared to analyses on systems of predefined potential discrete cracks. Results indicate that (1) fixed smeared cracks may produce overstiff behavior while rotating smeared cracks do not, (2) smeared cracks may give rise to stress-locking while discrete cracks do not. Examples are shown for concrete and masonry.