Semi-analytical finite element method for fictitious crack model in fracture mechanics of concrete

Based on the Hamiltonian governing equations of plane elasticity for sectorial domain, the variable separation and eigenfunction expansion techniques were employed to develop a novel analytical finite element for the fictitious crack model in fracture mechanics of concrete. The new analytical element can be implemented into FEM program systems to solve fictitious crack propagation problems for concrete cracked plates with arbitrary shapes and loads. Numerical results indicate that the method is more efficient and accurate than ordinary finite element method.     

裂缝分析的比例边界有限元与有限元耦合的虚拟结构面模型

比例边界有限元法SBFEM(Scaled Boundary Finite Element Method)是一种半解析数值方法,在裂缝分析特别是强度因子计算上具有相当高的精度。本文提出了一种用于裂缝分析的基于虚拟结构面的SBFEM与常规FEM的耦合分析方法。首先选取裂缝周边一定范围的计算域,并将结构分成不含裂缝区域和含裂缝区域两部分。然后,对不含裂缝区域,采用FEM进行网格离散;对含裂缝区域,采用SBFEM进行网格离散;两者相互独立,在这两个域内,分别采用各自相应的位移模式。最后通过在SBFEM网格的外边界设置虚拟耦合结构面的模式,实现有限元网格和比例边界有限元网格的耦合。通过两个经典的含裂缝平板的算例研究,探讨了本文方法在I型开裂和混合型开裂分析中,影响应力强度因子精度的因素。算例表明,SBFEM具有的降维和半解析性质,使本文方法在裂缝分析中的前处理简单易行,且计算结果具有相当高的计算精度。     

裂纹尖端附近三维效应区的有限元分析

基于Kane-Mindlin关于弹性平板面内问题位移的运动学假设,本文首次推导了一种考虑板厚效应的平板面内问题的有限元格式。将Kane-Mindl.n假设推广到弹塑性问题,推导了相应的有限元方程.对双边及中心裂纹拉伸试件的计算结果表明,裂纹尖端附近的弹性三维效应区尺寸和板厚相当.对线性硬化弹塑性材料,当切线模量E_t和弹性模量E之比E_t/E大于0.2时,三维效应区在两倍板厚以内.     

T-stress evaluation for slightly curved crack using perturbation method

A general formulation for evaluating the T-stress at crack tips in a curved crack is introduced. In the formulation, a singular integral equation with the distribution of dislocation along the curve is suggested. For a slightly curved crack, a small parameter is generally assumed for the crack configuration. By using the assumption for the small parameter, the perturbation method is suggested and it reduces the singular integral equation into many successive singular integral equations. If the cracked plate has a remote loading and the curve configuration is a quadratic function, the mentioned successive singular integral equations can be solved in a closed form. Therefore, the solution for the T-stress in a closed form is obtained. The obtained results for T-stress are shown by figures. It is found that if the involved parameter is not too small, the influence of the curve configuration is significant. Comparison for T-stresses obtained from a quadratic-shaped curved crack and an arc crack is presented.     

裂纹扩展过程中线性内聚力模型计算的半解析有限元法

提出了求解基于线性内聚力模型的平面裂纹扩展问题的半解析有限元法,利用弹性平面扇形域哈密顿体系的方程,通过分离变量法及共轭辛本征函数向量展开法,推导了一个环形和一个圆形奇异超级解析单元列式,组装这两个超级单元能准确地描述裂纹表面作用有双线性内聚力的平面裂纹尖端场。将该解析元与有限元相结合,构成半解析的有限元法,可求解任意几何形状和载荷的基于线性内聚力模型的平面裂纹扩展问题。典型算例的计算结果表明本文方法简单有效,具有令人满意的精度。     

On the uses of special crack tip elements in numerical rock fracture mechanics

Numerical methods such as boundary element methods are widely used for the stress analysis in solid mechanics. These methods are also used for crack analysis in rock fracture mechanics. There are singularities for the stresses and displacements at the crack tips in fracture mechanics problem, which decrease the accuracy of the numerical results in areas very close to the crack ends. To overcome this, higher order elements and isoperimetric higher order elements have been used. Recently, special crack tip elements have been proposed and used in most of the numerical fracture mechanics models. These elements can drastically increase the accuracy of the results near the crack tips, but in most of the models only one special crack tip element has been used for each crack end. In this study the uses of higher order crack tip elements are discussed and a higher order displacement discontinuity method is used to investigate the effect of these elements on the accuracy of the results in some crack problems. The useful shape functions for two special crack tip elements, are derived and given in the text and appendix for both infinite and semi-infinite plane problems. In this analysis both Mode I and Mode II stress intensity factors are computed . Some example problems are solved and the computed results are compared with the results given in the literature. The numerical results obtained here are in good agreement with those cited in the literature. For the curved crack problem, the strain energy release rate, G can be calculated accurately in the vicinity of the crack tips by using the higher order displacement discontinuity method with a quadratic variation of displacement discontinuity elements and with two special crack tip elements at each crack end.     

Energy release rate and contact zone in a cohesive and an interface crack by hypersingular integral equations

Solution of Cauchy-type singular integral equations permits the evaluation of the fracture parameters at the crack tips very accurately. However, it does not permit the determination of the crack opening and sliding displacements while ensuring no crack surface interpenetration unless the location of the contact zone is known a priori. In order to circumvent this shortcoming, this study presents a solution method based on the Hadamard-type singular integral equations to obtain the crack opening and sliding displacements directly while enforcing the appropriate conditions to prevent interpenetration. Furthermore, the crack opening displacements are physically more meaningful and readily validated against the finite element analysis predictions. The numerical solutions of the hypersingular integral equations provide not only crack opening and sliding displacements directly but also the stress intensity factors and energy release rates. Also, the behavior of the energy release rate is examined as the cohesive crack located parallel to the interface approaches the interface from either the soft or the stiff side of the interface. The limiting value of the energy release rate is established by considering an interface crack. As the cohesive crack approaches the interface from either side of the interface, the energy release rate approaches to that of the interface crack. However, the length of contact zone between the cohesive crack surfaces under uniform shear loading does not approach to that of the interface crack.     

Plastic yielding on inclined slip-planes at a crack tip

Plastic yield at crack tips on singular slip-planes, inclined to the crack plane, has been studied under plane-strain conditions for combined tension, hydrostatic stress, and in-plane shear. The singular integral equation, which represents the equilibrium condition of edge dislocations on the slip-planes, is transformed into a Fredholm integral equation in order to avoid difficulties that occur with its numerical solution. Results are presented for the slip-band length, the plastic crack-tip opening displacement, stress fields, and crack-opening contours. A series expansion of the results obtained numerically confirms approximate analytical expressions given by J.R. Rice (1974), up to the third-order in the applied stresses. The results of finite element methods agree with values of the crack-tip opening displacement obtained here to within 10 per cent. Ahead of the crack tip, the principal tensile stresses exceed the principal shear stresses by a factor of 10, approximately.     

Mode III fracture problem of an arbitrarily oriented crack in an FGPM strip bonded to a homogeneous piezoelectric half plane

This paper studies the Mode III electric-elastic field of a cracked functionally graded piezoelectric strip bonded to a homogeneous piezoelectric half plane. The crack is oriented in arbitrary direction. The material properties of the strip vary along the strip thickness in exponential forms. By using the Fourier transform, the problem can be formulated to a system of singular integral equations and solved by applying the Gauss-Chebyshev integration formula. The effects come from the edge, crack orientations and the nonhomogeneous material parameter on intensity factors are discussed graphically.     

Modeling of fatigue crack growth from a notch

When a fatigue crack is nucleated and propagates into the vicinity of the notch, the crack growth rate is generally higher than that can be expected by using the stress intensity factor concept. The current study attempted to describe the crack growth at notches quantitatively with a detailed consideration of the cyclic plasticity of the material. An elastic–plastic finite element analysis was conducted to obtain the stress and strain histories of the notched component. A single multiaxial fatigue criterion was used to determine the crack initiation from the notch and the subsequent crack growth. Round compact specimens made of 1070 steel were subjected to Mode I cyclic loading with different R-ratios at room temperature. The approach developed was able to quantitatively capture the crack growth behavior near the notch. When the R-ratio was positive, the crack growth near a notch was mainly influenced by the plasticity created by the notch and the resulted fatigue damage during crack initiation. When the R-ratio was negative, the contact of the cracked surfaces during a part of a loading cycle reduced the cyclic plasticity of the material near the crack tip. The combined effect of notch plasticity and possible contact of cracked surface were responsible for the observed crack growth phenomenon near a notch.     

A reexamination of plasticity-induced crack closure in fatigue crack propagation

The crack closure concept is often used to consider the R-ratio and overload effects on fatigue crack growth. The presumption is that when the crack is closed, the external load produces negligible fatigue damage in the cracked component. The current investigation provides a reassessment of the frequently used concept with an emphasis on the plasticity-induced crack closure. A center cracked specimen made of 1070 steel was investigated. The specimen was subjected to plane-stress mode I loading. An elastic–plastic stress analysis was conducted for the cracked specimens using the finite element method. By applying the commonly used one-node-per-cycle debonding scheme for the crack closure simulations, it was shown that the predicted crack opening load did not stabilize when the extended crack was less than four times of the plastic zone size. The predicted opening load was strongly influenced by the plasticity model used. When the elastic–perfectly plastic (EPP) stress–strain relationship was used together with the kinematic hardening plasticity theory, the predicted crack opening load was found to be critically dependent on the element size of the finite element mesh model. For R = 0, the predicted crack opening load was greatly reduced when the finite element size became very fine. The kinematic hardening rule with the bilinear (BL) stress–strain relationship predicted crack closure with less dependence on the element size. When a recently developed cyclic plasticity model was used, the element size effect on the predicted crack opening level was insignificant. While crack closure may occur, it was demonstrated that cyclic plasticity persisted in the material near the crack tip. The cyclic plasticity was reduced but not negligible when the crack was closed. The traditional approaches may have overestimated the effect of crack closure in fatigue crack growth predictions.     

Analysis of bonded anisotropic wedges with interface crack under anti-plane shear loading

The antiplane stress analysis of two anisotropic finite wedges with arbitrary radii and apex angles that are bonded together along a common edge is investigated. The wedge radial boundaries can be subjected to displacement-displacement boundary condi- tions, and the circular boundary of the wedge is free from any traction. The new finite complex transforms are employed to solve the problem. These finite complex transforms have complex analogies to both kinds of standard finite Mellin transforms. The traction free condition on the crack faces is expressed as a singular integral equation by using the exact analytical method. The explicit terms for the strength of singularity are extracted, showing the dependence of the order of the stress singularity on the wedge angle, material constants, and boundary conditions. A numerical method is used for solving the resul- tant singular integral equations. The displacement boundary condition may be a general term of the Taylor series expansion for the displacement prescribed on the radial edge of the wedge. Thus, the analysis of every kind of displacement boundary conditions can be obtained by the achieved results from the foregoing general displacement boundary condition. The obtained stress intensity factors （SIFs） at the crack tips are plotted and compared with those obtained by the finite element analysis （FEA）.     

Analysis of anisotropic sector with a radial crack under anti-plane shear loading

In this paper, the anti-plane shear deformation of an anisotropic sector with a radial crack is investigated. The traction–traction boundary conditions are imposed on the radial edges and the traction-free condition is considered on the circular segment of the sector. A novel mathematical technique is employed for the solution of the problem. This technique consists of the use of some recently proposed finite complex transforms (Shahani, 1999), which have complex analogies to the standard finite Mellin transforms of the first and second kinds. However, it is essential to state the traction-free condition of the crack faces in the form of a singular integral equation which is done in this paper by describing an exact analytical method. The resultant dual integral equations are solved numerically to determine the stress intensity factors at the crack tips. In the special cases, the obtained results coincide with those cited in the literature.     

Investigation on 3D fatigue crack propagation in surface-cracked specimens

In the present work the fatigue crack growth in AISI304 specimens is investigated experimentally. In 3D finite element analysis the virtual crack closure technique is applied to calculate distributions and variations of the stress intensity factor along the surface crack front. It is confirmed that the stress intensity factor along the surface crack front varies non-uniformly with crack growth. Crack growth rate is proportional to the stress intensity factor distribution in the 3D cracked specimen. The fatigue crack growth in surface cracked specimens can be described by the Forman model identified in conventional compact tension specimens. For crack growth in the free specimen surface the arc length seems more suitable to quantify crack progress. Geometry and loading configuration of the surface cracked specimen seem to not affect the fatigue crack growth substantially.     

Stress intensity factors for an edge interface crack in a bonded semi-infinite plate for arbitrary material combination

Although a lot of interface crack problems were previously treated, few solutions are available under arbitrary crack lengths and material combinations. In this paper the stress intensity factors of an edge interface crack in a bonded strip are considered under tension with varying the crack length and material combinations systematically. Then, the limiting solutions are provided for an edge interface crack in a bonded semi-infinite plate under arbitrary material combinations. In order to calculate the stress intensity factors accurately, exact solutions in an infinite bonded plate are also considered to produce proportional singular stress fields in the analysis of FEM by superposing specific tensile and shear stresses at infinity. The details of this new numerical solution are described with clarifying the effect of the element size on the stress intensity factor. It is found that for the edge interface crack the normalized stress intensity factors are not always finite depending upon Dunders’ parameters. This behavior can be explained from the condition of the singular stress at the end of bonded strip. Convenient formulas are also given by fitting the computed results.     

Fracture behavior of a bonded magneto-electro-elastic rectangular plate with an interface crack

In this paper the anti-plane problem for an interface crack between two dissimilar magneto-electro-elastic plates subjected to anti-plane mechanical and in-plane magneto-electrical loads is investigated. The interface crack is assumed to be either magneto-electrically impermeable or permeable, and the position of the interface crack is arbitrary. The finite Fourier transform method is employed to reduce the mixed boundary-value problem to triple trigonometric series equations. The dislocation density functions and proper replacement of the variables are introduced to reduce these series equations to a standard Cauchy singular integral equation of the first kind. The resulting integral equation together with the corresponding single-valued condition is approximated as a system of linear algebra equations which can be easily solved. Field intensity factors and energy release rates are determined numerically and discussed in detail. Numerical results show the effects of crack configuration and loading combination parameters on the fracture behaviors of crack tips according to energy release rate criterion. The study of this problem is expected to have applications to the investigation of dynamic fracture properties of magneto-electro-elastic materials with cracks.     

Numerical modeling of PZT-induced Lamb wave-based crack detection in plate-like structures

This paper presents the numerical modeling and simulations of PZT-induced Lamb wave propagation in plate-like structures by using the spectral finite element method. A novel spectral plate finite element, which can efficiently model the three-dimensional (3D) behavior of Lamb waves, is proposed. In the formulation, linear displacement distributions in the thickness direction are assumed for both the PZT layer and the base plate. A way to avoid the thickness locking is proposed and used in the formulations. Two examples, one for the validation of the proposed two-dimensional (2D) spectral finite element and the other for the demonstration of crack detection in plates, are presented and discussed. The contact between the two faces of crack is considered. Numerical results show that (1) only the anti-symmetric mode is prone to thickness locking thus remedy should be made only on this part, (2) the proposed 2D spectral finite element can adequately model the Lamb wave propagation in plate-like structures and the complex scattering for the crack, and (3) crack location can be well determined by a PZT-induced Lamb wave-based diagnosis algorithm.     

2D dynamic analysis of cracks and interface cracks in piezoelectric composites using the SBFEM

The dynamic stress and electric displacement intensity factors of impermeable cracks in homogeneous piezoelectric materials and interface cracks in piezoelectric bimaterials are evaluated by extending the scaled boundary finite element method (SBFEM). In this method, a piezoelectric plate is divided into polygons. Each polygon is treated as a scaled boundary finite element subdomain. Only the boundaries of the subdomains need to be discretized with line elements. The dynamic properties of a subdomain are represented by the high order stiffness and mass matrices obtained from a continued fraction solution, which is able to represent the high frequency response with only 3–4 terms per wavelength. The semi-analytical solutions model singular stress and electric displacement fields in the vicinity of crack tips accurately and efficiently. The dynamic stress and electric displacement intensity factors are evaluated directly from the scaled boundary finite element solutions. No asymptotic solution, local mesh refinement or other special treatments around a crack tip are required. Numerical examples are presented to verify the proposed technique with the analytical solutions and the results from the literature. The present results highlight the accuracy, simplicity and efficiency of the proposed technique.     

FRP加固金属裂纹板的断裂力学分析

传统的金属结构加固方法会形成新的疲劳源,而粘贴FRP加固则具有明显的优势．提出了“三维实体-弹簧-壳元”有限元模型,金属板采用三维实体单元, FRP采用壳单元,用弹簧单元来模拟FRP与金属板之间的胶层,对金属裂纹板粘贴FRP加固后的性能进行了线弹性断裂力学分析,并对影响金属板裂纹前缘应力强度因子的参数进行了讨论．分析结果表明,采用高弹性模量的FRP和增加FRP的厚度对改善加固效果非常明显．