Numerical aspects of the XFEM — The XFEM p–Version

The XFEM is known to approximate the displacements and stresses around a crack tip in a very efficient way. But as we will present in this paper we have to deal with a phenomenon coming along with this method that compels us to use higher order shape functions for those elements that are enriched by the crack tip functions. For the computation of the stress–intensity–factors we are using a J–integral over a circular domain Ω. The accuracy of the results depend on • the radius of Ω • the number of elements used in the XFEM computation • the number of nodes which were enriched by the crack tip functions (number of layers) and • the shape functions which were used for the standard FE term For more information about the XFEM we refer to [1]. (© 2006 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

DOF-gathering stable generalized finite element methods for crack problems

Generalized or eXtended finite element methods (GFEM/XFEM) have been studied extensively for crack problems. Most of the studies were concentrated on localized enrichment schemes where nodes around the crack tip are enriched by products of singular and finite element shape functions. To attain the optimal convergence rate O(h) (h is the mesh-size), nodes in a fixed domain containing the tip have to be enriched. This results in many extra degrees of freedom (DOF) and stability issues. A so-called DOF-gathering GFEM/XFEM can avoid the increase of DOF, by collecting the singular enriched DOF together. Various novel modifications were designed for the DOF-gathering GFEM/XFEM to get the optimal convergence O(h). However, they could not improve the stability, namely, condition numbers of stiffness matrices of the DOF-gathering GFEM/XFEM could be much larger than that of the standard FEM. Motivated from the idea of stable GFEM, we propose in this paper a DOF-gathering stable GFEM (d.g.SGFEM) for the Poisson problem with crack singularities. The main idea is to modify the singular and Heaviside enrichments by subtracting their finite element interpolants. The optimal convergence O(h) of the proposed d.g.SGFEM is proven theoretically. Moreover, the condition number of stiffness matrices of d.g.SGFEM, utilizing a local orthgonalization technique, is shown to be of same order as that of the standard FEM. Two kinds of commonly used cut-off functions used to gather the DOF are analyzed in a unified approach. Theoretical convergence and the conditioning results of d.g.SGFEM are verified by numerical experiments.     

A novel size independent symplectic analytical singular element for inclined crack terminating at bimaterial interface

Cracks often exist in composite structures, especially at the interface of two different materials. These cracks can significantly affect the load bearing capacity of the structure and lead to premature failure of the structure. In this paper, a novel element for modeling the singular stress state around the inclined interface crack which terminates at the interface is developed. This new singular element is derived based on the explicit form of the high order eigen solution which is, for the first time, determined by using a symplectic approach. The developed singular element is then applied in finite element analysis and the stress intensity factors (SIFs) for a number of crack configurations are derived. It has been concluded that composites with complex geometric configurations of inclined interface cracks can be accurately simulated by the developed method, according to comparison of the results against benchmarks. It has been found that the stiffness matrix of the proposed singular element is independent of the element size and the SIFs of the crack can be solved directly without any post-processing.     

A note on the singular linear system of the generalized finite element methods

We characterize the kernel of the global stiffness matrix in the singular linear system of the generalized finite element methods (GFEM) which uses the classical finite element (FE) shape functions and local approximation space of harmonic polynomials.     

裂纹面分布加载裂尖SIFs分析的广义参数Williams单元北大核心CSCD

带裂缝服役是工程结构的常态,由于流体侵入到裂缝内部,裂纹面直接受荷,使得裂缝进一步扩展,甚者影响结构的安全性.广义参数Williams单元(简记W单元)在分析断裂问题中,利用Williams级数建立裂尖奇异区的位移场,通过求解广义刚度方程可直接获得应力强度因子(stress intensity factors,SIFs),具有高精高效性;但W单元需满足奇异区内裂纹面自由的边界条件,故在分析裂纹面加载的问题中受限.该文基于SIFs互等,在等效奇异区范围中,将裂纹面的荷载等效为奇异区外围边界裂纹面上的集中力,避免奇异区内裂纹面受荷,故采用W单元即可简便计算.算例分析表明:等效奇异区尺寸取裂纹长度的1/20,等效荷载系数P建议取2.0,W单元计算精度均满足1%的误差限,证明该文在奇异区裂纹面受荷等效处理方法上具有合理性、通用性,克服了W单元在分析裂纹面加载问题的局限性.     

A quasi-optimal convergence result for fracture mechanics with XFEM

The aim of this Note is to give a convergence result for a variant of the eXtended Finite Element Method (XFEM) on cracked domains using a cut-off function to localize the singular enrichment area. The difficulty is caused by the discontinuity of the displacement field across the crack, but we prove that a quasi-optimal convergence rate holds in spite of the presence of elements cut by the crack. The global linear convergence rate is obtained by using an enriched linear finite element method. To cite this article: E. Chahine et al., C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 342 (2006).     

Dynamic crack analysis in 2D elastic solids with the singular edge-based smoothed finite element method

The singular edge-based smoothed finite element method (sES-FEM) is developed for stationary dynamic crack analysis in two-dimensional (2D) elastic solids. The paper aims at providing a better understanding of the dynamic fracture behaviors in linear elastic solids by means of the strain smoothing technique. The strains are smoothed and the system stiffness matrix is performed using the strain smoothing over the smoothing domains associated with the element edges. A two-layer singular five-node crack-tip element is employed while the standard implicit time integration scheme is used for solving the discrete sES-FEM equation system. Dynamic stress intensity factors (DSIFs) are extracted using the domain-form of interaction integrals in terms of the smoothing technique. The normalized DSIFs are compared with reference solutions showing a high accuracy of the sES-FEM. (© 2012 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Thermo-mechanical modeling of turbine blades taking into account structural defects

In turbine blades of aero-engines typical defects are cracks due to high mechanical and thermal loads. The extended finite element method (XFEM) is used for simulations of fracture mechanics problems with cracks. Discontinuities in the displacement and temperature field are allowed and the crack opening displacement and crack tip stress field are reproduced accurately. Since crack closure and non-physical penetration of the crack surfaces may occur under certain load conditions, it becomes necessary to enforce the non-penetration condition for crack surfaces. This contact formulation is assumed to be frictionless. The node-to-segment approach proposed in [3] is extended to ten-node tetrahedral elements with quadratic shape functions. (© 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

瞬态动力问题的遂单元矩阵分裂和逐步积分方法

本文对瞬态动力问题,结合逐步积分方法提出了一类广义的矩阵分裂和逐单元松弛算法,摆脱了有限元法通常需形成总体刚度矩阵,总体质量矩阵和求解大型稀疏方程组的工作,理论分析和计算实例表明,本文的广义矩阵分裂是最优的分裂方案.本文的算法物理意义明确,便于编写程序推广应用.     

考虑流固耦合效应的重力坝水力劈裂模拟

裂缝的高压水力劈裂是混凝土高坝安全评估的重要部分,研究其过程中的流固耦合作用是准确预测在各种情况下裂纹扩展路径和危险程度的关键.该文利用扩展有限元法在模拟裂纹扩展方面的优势,对大坝的裂纹进行水力劈裂模拟研究.裂纹中的水压分布模型采用Brühwiler和Saouma水力劈裂试验的成果,体现了水压和裂纹宽度的耦合关系,给出了扩展有限元在裂纹面上施加水压力荷载的实施方法,对一典型重力坝裂纹的水力劈裂进行了数值模拟分析.研究结果表明:采用扩展有限元法模拟水力劈裂,克服了常规有限元法存在的缺点,裂纹扩展时不用重新划分网格,裂纹的实时宽度可以由加强节点的附加自由度得到,裂纹面上水压的施加也变得简单易行.当考虑裂纹内的流固耦合效应时,裂纹的扩展路径相比不考虑耦合效应时的扩展路径(均布全水头水压),扩展角变大,扩展距离变短.     

Finite Element Modelling of Cracks Based on the Partition of Unity Method

In this paper a finite element model for the analysis of brittle materials in the post cracking regime is presented. The model allows the representation of failure zones several times smaller than the structure itself using relatively coarse finite element meshes. The formulation is based on the partition of unity method. Discontinuous shape functions are used to enrich the continuous approximation of the displacement field where a crack has opened [2]. The magnitude of the displacement jump is determined by extra degrees of freedom at existing nodes. The crack path is completely independent of the structure of the mesh and is continuous across element boundaries. To model inelastic deformations around the crack tip a cohesive crack model is used. A representative numerical example illustrates the performance of the proposed model.     

An efficient procedure for determining mixed-mode energy release rates in practical problems of delamination

A computationally efficient procedure is presented for the prediction of mixed-mode strain energy release rates in practical problems of delamination. In this procedure, an analytical crack tip element analysis is used for the determination of all singular field quantities. By comparison with two- and three-dimensional finite element results, the procedure is shown to be accurate for mixed-mode problems where mode I, mode II and/or mode III crack tip singularities are present. The procedure is applicable for those cases where a near-tip inverse-square-root singularity exists, as well as those where an oscillatory singularity exists. For these latter cases, an alternative approach to using oscillatory field quantities to characterize crack advance is suggested.     

Calculation of stresses in the finite elements of deformed constructions

Under study is the problem of deformation of a curved rod in the form of a circular arc. Using the previously developed version of the functions of the form of a curvilinear finite element, we construct a solution that differs slightly from the exact one with respect to displacements even for few elements; however, the bending moment is calculated with a greater error. As a result of the direct integration of the equations of the problem for this rod, there are constructed some modified functions of the form from which an “exact” stiffness matrix is calculated. These functions yield the construction of the functions of the form with a parameter and the reason is clarified why the calculation of the force factors by differentiation of such functions fails to be exact. Also, we demonstrate a possible nonuniqueness of the obtained results for the stresses under the same errors in the stiffness matrix.     

Simulation of crack–propagation using embedded discontinuities

The transition from microscale damage phenomena to crack initiation and growth at the macroscale is an important mechanism which constrains the lifetime of concrete structures. Analysing crack growth using the finite element method without enhancement of the shape functions is possible only by continuously updating the corresponding meshes, which constitutes a significant computational effort. But even then the results can be substantially mesh–dependent and hard to interpret. The extended Finite Element Method (XFEM) uses additional discontinuous shape–functions and is one possibility to overcome these problems. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Discontinuous cellular automaton method for crack growth analysis without remeshing

A numerical technical of discontinuous cellular automaton method for crack growth analysis without remeshing is developed. In this method, the level set method is employed to track the crack location and its growth path, where the level set functions and calculation grids are independent, so no explicit meshing for crack surface and no remeshing for crack growth are needed. Then, the discontinuous enrichment shape functions which are enriched by the Heaviside function and the exact near-tip asymptotic field functions are constructed to model the discontinuity of cracks. Finally, a discontinuous cellular automaton theory is proposed, which are composed of cell, neighborhood and updating rules for discontinuous case. There is an advantage that the calculation is only applied on local cell, so no assembled stiffness matrix but only cell stiffness is needed, which can overcome the stiffness matrix assembling difficulty caused by unequal degrees of nodal freedom for different cells, and much easier to consider the local properties of cells. Besides, the present method requires much less computer memory than that of XFEM because of it local property.     

FLIM - A Variant of FEM based on Line Integration

A variant of the finite element method (FEM) for modelling and solving partial differential equations based on triangular and tetrahedral meshes is proposed. While FEM is based on integration over finite elements, the new approach - briefly denoted as FLIM hereafter - uses integration along edges (finite lines). The stiffness matrix, which - for linear triangles and tetrahedra - is identical with the one obtained with FEM, as well as the load vector can solely be obtained by summing up the edge contributions. This new variant requires much lower storage than FEM, especially for three-dimensional problems, but yields the same approximation error and convergence rate as the finite element method. It is shown that its performance, when applied to linear problems, is in close agreement with the performance of the finite element method. (© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Hybrid boundary element formulation for acoustic wave propagation

The so‐called hybrid stress boundary element method (HSBEM) is introduced in a frequency domain formulation for the computation of acoustic radiation and scattering in closed and in finite domains. Different from other boundary element formulations, the HSBEM is based on an extended Hellinger‐Reissner variational principle and leads to a Hermitian, frequency‐dependent stiffness equation. Due to this, the method is very well suited for treating fluid structure interaction problems since the effort for the coupling the structure, discretized by a finite elements, and the fluid, discretized by the HSBEM is strongly reduced. To arrive at a boundary integral formulation, the field variables are separated into boundary variables, which are approximated by piecewise polynomial functions, and domain variables, which are approximated by a superposition of singular fundamental solutions weighed by source strength. This approximation cancels the domain integral over the equation of motion in the hybrid principle and leads to a boundary integral formulation, incorporating singular integrals. Comparing to previous results published by the authors, new considerations concerning the interpretation of singular contributions in the stiffness matrix for exterior domain problems are communicated here.     

Mixed antiplane boundary‐value problem for a piecewise‐homogeneous elastic body with a semi‐infinite interfacial crack

Antiplane stress state of a piecewise‐homogeneous elastic body with a semi‐infinite crack along the interface is considered. The longitudinal displacements along one of the crack edges on a finite interval, adjacent to the crack tip, are known. Shear stresses are applied to the body along the crack edges and at infinity. The problem reduces to a Riemann–Hilbert boundary‐value matrix problem with a piecewise‐constant coefficient for a complex potential in the class of symmetric functions. The complex potential is found explicitly using a Gaussian hypergeometric function. The stress state of the body close to the singular points is investigated. The stress intensity factors are determined. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

含曲线裂纹圆柱扭转问题的新边界元法

研究含曲线裂纹圆柱的Saint-Venant扭转,将问题化归为裂纹上边界积分方程的求解．利用裂纹尖端的奇异元和线性元插值模型,给出了扭转刚度和应力强度因子的边界元计算公式．对圆弧裂纹、曲折裂纹以及直线裂纹的典型问题进行了数值计算,并与用Gauss-Chebyshev求积法计算的直裂纹情形结果进行了比较,证明了方法的有效性和正确性．