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Journal of Zhejiang University-SCIENCE A (Applied Physics & Engineering)  2008, Vol. 9 Issue (7): 867-877    DOI: 10.1631/jzus.A071540
Applied Mechanics     
Towards fully automatic modelling of the fracture process in quasi-brittle and ductile materials: a unified crack growth criterion
Zhen-jun YANG, Guo-hua LIU
College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
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Abstract  Fully automatic finite element (FE) modelling of the fracture process in quasi-brittle materials such as concrete and rocks and ductile materials such as metals and alloys, is of great significance in assessing structural integrity and presents tremendous challenges to the engineering community. One challenge lies in the adoption of an objective and effective crack propagation criterion. This paper proposes a crack propagation criterion based on the principle of energy conservation and the cohesive zone model (CZM). The virtual crack extension technique is used to calculate the differential terms in the criterion. A fully-automatic discrete crack modelling methodology, integrating the developed criterion, the CZM to model the crack, a simple remeshing procedure to accommodate crack propagation, the J2 flow theory implemented within the incremental plasticity framework to model the ductile materials, and a local arc-length solver to the nonlinear equation system, is developed and implemented in an in-house program. Three examples, i.e., a plain concrete beam with a single shear crack, a reinforced concrete (RC) beam with multiple cracks and a compact-tension steel specimen, are simulated. Good agreement between numerical predictions and experimental data is found, which demonstrates the applicability of the criterion to both quasi-brittle and ductile materials.

Key wordsFinite element method (FEM)      Crack propagation criterion      Cohesive zone model (CZM)      Virtual crack extension (VCE)      Arc-length method     
Received: 08 October 2007     
CLC:  O34  
  TV3  
Cite this article:

Zhen-jun YANG, Guo-hua LIU. Towards fully automatic modelling of the fracture process in quasi-brittle and ductile materials: a unified crack growth criterion. Journal of Zhejiang University-SCIENCE A (Applied Physics & Engineering), 2008, 9(7): 867-877.

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http://www.zjujournals.com/xueshu/zjus-a/10.1631/jzus.A071540     OR     http://www.zjujournals.com/xueshu/zjus-a/Y2008/V9/I7/867

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