Simulation of crack growth using cohesive crack method

We present an effective cohesive discrete crack method in the context of the Reproducing Kernel Particle Method (RKPM) in order to study fracture of concrete structures. The discrete crack approach is based on the visibility method and a simple node splitting scheme. We also present an effective implementation of the visibility method and an iteration free algorithm by including the cohesive force term directly into the stiffness equations. The crack is represented by straight-line segments and the cohesive zone model is employed to model the post-localization behavior of concrete. The method is applied to several examples involving mode I and mixed-mode fracture. These results are compared to experimental data and show good agreement.