2D dynamic analysis of cracks and interface cracks in piezoelectric composites using the SBFEM
- Authors: Li, Chao , Song, Chongmin , Man, Hou , Ooi, Ean Tat , Gao, Wei
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Solids and Structures Vol. 51, no. 11-12 (June 2014), p. 2096-2108
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: 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.
A direct time-domain procedure for the seismic analysis of dam–foundation–reservoir systems using the scaled boundary finite element method
- Authors: Qu, Yanling , Chen, Denghong , Liu, Lei , Ooi, Ean Tat , Eisenträger, Sascha , Song, Chongmin
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Computers and Geotechnics Vol. 138, no. (2021), p.
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: In this paper, a direct time-domain procedure for the seismic analysis of dam–reservoir–foundation interactions is presented based on the scaled boundary finite element method (SBFEM). The SBFEM is a semi-analytical method and requires the discretization of boundary only. The geometric complexity in the bounded dam–reservoir–foundation system is easily handled in the SBFEM using quadtree meshes where each structural component can be discretized independently. The elastic wave fields in the unbounded foundation are rigorously captured through SBFE solutions in terms of displacement unit-impulse response functions, while the acoustic wave propagation in the semi-infinite reservoir is modelled by the SBFE-based doubly asymptotic open boundary. The input of seismic excitations is addressed by incorporating the Domain Reduction Method (DRM) into the SBFEM. Cracks are modelled efficiently and accurately by combining the SBFEM and quadtree meshes. The accuracy and efficiency of the proposed methodology is investigated by studying several benchmarks, Pine Flat dam and Jin'anqiao dam. © 2021 Elsevier Ltd
A dual scaled boundary finite element formulation over arbitrary faceted star convex polyhedra
- Authors: Ooi, Ean Tat , Saputra, Albert , Natarajan, Sundararajan , Ooi, Ean Hin , Song, Chongmin
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Computational Mechanics Vol. 66, no. 1 (2020), p. 27-47
- Full Text: false
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- Description: A novel technique to formulate arbritrary faceted polyhedral elements in three-dimensions is presented. The formulation is applicable for arbitrary faceted polyhedra, provided that a scaling requirement is satisfied and the polyhedron facets are planar. A triangulation process can be applied to non-planar facets to generate an admissible geometry. The formulation adopts two separate scaled boundary coordinate systems with respect to: (i) a scaling centre located within a polyhedron and; (ii) a scaling centre on a polyhedron’s facets. The polyhedron geometry is scaled with respect to both the scaling centres. Polygonal shape functions are derived using the scaled boundary finite element method on the polyhedron facets. The stiffness matrix of a polyhedron is obtained semi-analytically. Numerical integration is required only for the line elements that discretise the polyhedron boundaries. The new formulation passes the patch test. Application of the new formulation in computational solid mechanics is demonstrated using a few numerical benchmarks. © 2020, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.
A novel error indicator and an adaptive refinement technique using the scaled boundary finite element method
- Authors: Song, Chongmin , Ooi, Ean Tat , Pramod, Aladurthi , Natarajan, Sundararajan
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Engineering Analysis with Boundary Elements Vol. 94, no. (2018), p. 10-24
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- Description: In this paper, an adaptive refinement strategy based on the scaled boundary finite element method on quadtree meshes for linear elasticity problems is discussed. Within this framework, the elements with hanging nodes are treated as polygonal elements and thus does not require special treatment. The adaptive refinement is supplemented with a novel error indicator. The local error is estimated directly from the solution of the scaled boundary governing equations. The salient feature is that it does not require any stress recovery techniques. The efficacy and the robustness of the proposed approach are demonstrated with a few numerical examples.
A novel scaled boundary finite element formulation with stabilization and its application to image-based elastoplastic analysis
- Authors: He, Ke , Song, Chongmin , Ooi, Ean Tat
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering Vol. 115, no. 8 (2018), p. 956-985
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Digital images are increasingly being used as input data for computational analyses. This study presents an efficient numerical technique to perform image-based elastoplastic analysis of materials and structures. The quadtree decomposition algorithm is employed for image-based mesh generation, which is fully automatic and highly efficient. The quadtree cells are modeled by scaled boundary polytope elements, which eliminate the issue of hanging nodes faced by standard finite elements. A novel, simple, and efficient scaled boundary elastoplastic formulation with stablisation is developed. In this formulation, the return-mapping calculation is only required to be performed at a single point in a polytope element, which facilitates the computational efficiency of the elastoplastic analysis and simplicity of implementation. Numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed technique for performing the elastoplastic analysis of high-resolution images.
A quadtree-based scaled boundary finite element method for crack propagation modelling
- Authors: Ooi, Ean Tat , Man, Hou , Natarajan, Sundararajan , Song, Chongmin , Tin-Loi, Francis
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: 23rd Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials, Byron Bay, NSW, 9-12 December, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW, p. 813-818
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- Description: The quadtree is a hierarchical-type data structure where each parent is recursively divided into four children. This structure makes it particularly efficient for adaptive mesh refinement in regions with localised gradients. Compared with unstructured triangles, mesh generation is more efficient using quadtree decompositions. The finite number of patterns in the quadtree decomposition makes it efficient for data storage and retrieval. Motivated by these advantages, a crack propagation modelling approach using a quadtree-based scaled boundary finite element method (SBFEM) is developed. Starting from the formulation of an arbitrary n-sided polygon element, each quadrant in the quadtree mesh is treated as a polygon within the framework of the SBFEM. Special techniques to treat the hanging nodes are not necessary. Moreover, the SBFEM enables accurate calculation of the stress intensity factors directly from its solutions without local mesh refinement or asymptotic enrichment functions. When a crack propagates, it is only necessary to split each quadrant cut by the crack into two. These quadrants are polygons that can be directly modelled by the SBFEM. Changes to the mesh are minimal. The efficiency of this approach is demonstrated using numerical benchmarks.
A quadtree-polygon-based scaled boundary finite element method for crack propagation modeling in functionally graded materials
- Authors: Chen, Xiaojun , Luo, Tao , Ooi, Ean Tat , Ooi, Ean Hin , Song, Chongmin
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Theoretical and Applied Fracture Mechanics Vol. 94, no. (2018), p. 120-133
- Full Text: false
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- Description: This paper presents a method to improve the computational efficiency of the scaled boundary finite element formulation for functionally graded materials. Both isotropic and orthotropic functionally graded materials are considered. This is achieved using a combination of quadtree and polygon meshes. This hybrid meshing approach is particularly suitable to be used with the SBFEM for functionally graded materials because of the significant amount of calculations required to compute the stiffness matrices of the polygons/cells in the mesh. When a quadtree structure is adopted, most of the variables required for the numerical simulation can be pre-computed and stored in the memory, retrieved and scaled as required during the computations, leading to an efficient method for crack propagation modeling. The scaled boundary finite element formulation enables accurate computation of the stress intensity factors directly from the stress solutions without any special post-processing techniques or local mesh refinement in the vicinity of the crack tip. Numerical benchmarks demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed method as opposed to using a purely polygon-mesh based approach. © 2018 Elsevier Ltd
A quadtree-polygon-based scaled boundary finite element method for image-based mesoscale fracture modelling in concrete
- Authors: Guo, H. , Ooi, Ean Tat , Saputra, Albert , Yang, Zhenjun , Natarajan, Sundararajan , Ooi, Ean Hin , Song, Chongmin
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article , acceptedVersion
- Relation: Engineering Fracture Mechanics Vol. 211, no. (2019), p. 420-441
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- Description: A quadtree-polygon scaled boundary finite element-based approach for image-based modelling of concrete fracture at the mesoscale is developed. Digital images representing the two-phase mesostructure of concrete, which comprises of coarse aggregates and mortar are either generated using a take-and-place algorithm with a user-defined aggregate volume ratio or obtained from X-ray computed tomography as an input. The digital images are automatically discretised for analysis by applying a balanced quadtree decomposition in combination with a smoothing operation. The scaled boundary finite element method is applied to model the constituents in the concrete mesostructure. A quadtree formulation within the framework of the scaled boundary finite element method is advantageous in that the displacement compatibility between the cells are automatically preserved even in the presence of hanging nodes. Moreover, the geometric flexibility of the scaled boundary finite element method facilitates the use of arbitrary sided polygons, allowing better representation of the aggregate boundaries. The computational burden is significantly reduced as there are only finite number of cell types in a balanced quadtree mesh. The cells in the mesh are connected to each other using cohesive interface elements with appropriate softening laws to model the fracture of the mesostructure. Parametric studies are carried out on concrete specimens subjected to uniaxial tension to investigate the effects of various parameters e.g. aggregate size distribution, porosity and aggregate volume ratio on the fracture of concrete at the meso-scale. Mesoscale fracture of concrete specimens obtained from X-ray computed tomography scans are carried out to demonstrate its feasibility.
A review of the scaled boundary finite element method for two-dimensional linear elastic fracture mechanics
- Authors: Song, Chongmin , Ooi, Ean Tat , Natarajan, Sundararajan
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article , Review
- Relation: Engineering Fracture Mechanics Vol. 187, no. (2018), p. 45-73
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- Reviewed:
- Description: The development and the application of the scaled boundary finite element method for fracture analysis is reviewed. In this method, polygonal elements (referred to as subdomains) of arbitrary number of edges are constructed, with the only limitation that the whole boundary is directly visible from the scaling centre. The element solution is semi-analytical. When applied to two-dimensional linear fracture mechanics, any kinds of stress singularities are represented analytically without local refinement, special elements and enrichment functions. The flexibility of polygons to represent arbitrary geometric shapes leads to simple yet efficient remeshing algorithms to model crack propagation. Coupling procedures with the extended finite element method, meshless method and boundary element method to handle changes in the crack morphology have been established. These developments result in an efficient framework for fracture modelling. Examples of applications are provided to demonstrate their feasibility. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd
A scaled boundary finite element formulation over arbitrary faceted star convex polyhedra
- Authors: Natarajan, Sundararajan , Ooi, Ean Tat , Saputra, Albert , Song, Chongmin
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Engineering Analysis with Boundary Elements Vol. 80, no. (2017), p. 218-229
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: In this paper, a displacement based finite element framework for general three-dimensional convex polyhedra is presented. The method is based on a semi-analytical framework, the scaled boundary finite element method. The method relies on the definition of a scaling center from which the entire boundary is visible. The salient feature of the method is that the discretizations are restricted to the surfaces of the polyhedron, thus reducing the dimensionality of the problem by one. Hence, an explicit form of the shape functions inside the polyhedron is not required. Conforming shape functions defined over arbitrary polygon, such as the Wachpress interpolants are used over each surface of the polyhedron. Analytical integration is employed within the polyhedron. The proposed method passes patch test to machine precision. The convergence and the accuracy properties of the method is discussed by solving few benchmark problems in linear elasticity. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd
A scaled boundary finite element formulation with bubble functions for elasto-static analyses of functionally graded materials
- Authors: Ooi, Ean Tat , Song, Chongmin , Natarajan, Sundararajan
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Computational Mechanics Vol. 60, no. 6 (2017), p. 943-967
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- Description: This manuscript presents an extension of the recently-developed high order complete scaled boundary shape functions to model elasto-static problems in functionally graded materials. Both isotropic and orthotropic functionally graded materials are modelled. The high order complete properties of the shape functions are realized through the introduction of bubble-like functions derived from the equilibrium condition of a polygon subjected to body loads. The bubble functions preserve the displacement compatibility between the elements in the mesh. The heterogeneity resulting from the material gradient introduces additional terms in the polygon stiffness matrix that are integrated analytically. Few numerical benchmarks were used to validate the developed formulation. The high order completeness property of the bubble functions result in superior accuracy and convergence rates for generic elasto-static and fracture problems involving functionally graded materials. © 2017, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany.
A scaled boundary polygon formulation for elasto-plastic analyses
- Authors: Ooi, Ean Tat , Song, Chongmin , Tin-Loi, Francis
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering Vol. 268, no. (January 2014 2014), p. 905-937
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- Reviewed:
- Description: This study presents a novel scaled boundary polygon formulation to model elasto-plastic material responses in structures. The polygons have flexible mesh generation capabilities and are more accurate than standard finite elements, especially for problems with cracks and notches. Shape functions of arbitrary n-sided polygons are constructed using the scaled boundary finite element method. These shape functions are conforming and linearly complete. When modeling a crack, strain singularities are analytically modeled without enrichment. Standard finite element procedures are used to formulate the stiffness matrix and residual load vector. The nonlinear material constitutive matrix and the internal stresses are approximated locally in each polygon by a polynomial function. The stiffness matrix and the residual load vector are matrix power integrals that can be evaluated analytically even when a strain singularity is present. Standard nonlinear equation solvers e.g. the modified Newton–Raphson algorithm are used to obtain the nonlinear response of the structure. The proposed formulation is validated using several numerical benchmarks.
Adaptation of quadtree meshes in the scaled boundary finite element method for crack propagation modelling
- Authors: Ooi, Ean Tat , Man, Hou , Natarajan, Sundararajan , Song, Chongmin
- Date: 2015
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Engineering Fracture Mechanics Vol. 144, no. (2015), p. 101-117
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: A crack propagation modelling technique combining the scaled boundary finite element method and quadtree meshes is developed. This technique automatically satisfies the compatibility requirement between adjacent quadtree cells irrespective of the presence of hanging nodes. The quadtree structure facilitates efficient data storage and rapid computations. Only a single cell is required to accurately model the stress field near crack tips. Crack growth is modelled by splitting the cells in the mesh into two. The resulting polygons are directly modelled by the scaled boundary formulation with minimal changes to the mesh. Four numerical examples demonstrate the salient features of the technique. © 2015.
Adaptive analysis using scaled boundary finite element method in 3D
- Authors: Zhang, Junqi , Natarajan, Sundararajan , Ooi, Ean Tat , Song, Chongmin
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering Vol. 372, no. (2020), p.
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: In this paper, an adaptive refinement technique using the scaled boundary finite element method (SBFEM) is proposed. The salient feature of this technique is that it is not required to regenerate the mesh for the whole model during the iterations. To this end, a local mesh refinement strategy is implemented based on a polytree algorithm in three dimensions, which can be applied to polyhedral elements with arbitrary number of nodes, edges and faces. These elements constructed by the SBFEM can be used in analysis with their boundaries discretized only, which reduce the difficulty to connect elements with different sizes. An explicit residual based error indicator is developed using the discontinuity of the stress field to guide the adaptive mesh refinement. The accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method are demonstrated using five numerical examples, including complex geometry and stress singularity. © 2020 Elsevier B.V.
- Description: The work presented in this paper is partially supported by the Australian Research Council through Grant Number DP180101538 .
Adaptive modelling of dynamic brittle fracture - a combined phase field regularized cohesive zone model and scaled boundary finite element approach
- Authors: Natarajan, Sundararajan , Ooi, Ean Tat , Birk, Carolin , Song, Chongmin
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Fracture Vol. 236, no. 1 (2022), p. 87-108
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Based on the error indicator computed from the scaled boundary equations, a quadtree based adaptive phase-field method is proposed for dynamic brittle fracture problems in isotropic material using the scaled boundary finite element method (SBFEM). The use of SBFEM alleviates the need for additional: (a) constraints to handle hanging nodes resulting from adaptive refinement and (b) post-processing techniques. Three representative examples are solved to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed approach. From the numerical study, it is opined that the proposed approach requires an order of magnitude fewer degrees of freedom when compared to uniform refinement and can capture the crack morphology under dynamic loading conditions without compromising accuracy. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.
Adaptive phase-field modeling of brittle fracture using the scaled boundary finite element method
- Authors: Hirshikesh , Pramod, Aladurthi , Annabattula, Ratna , Ooi, Ean Tat , Song, Chongmin , Natarajan, Sundararajan
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering Vol. 355, no. (2019), p. 284-307
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: In this work, we propose an adaptive phase field method (PFM) to simulate quasi-static brittle fracture problems. The phase field equations are solved using the scaled boundary finite element method (SBFEM). The adaptive refinement strategy is based on an error indicator evaluated directly from the solutions of the SBFEM without any need for stress recovery techniques. Quadtree meshes are adapted to perform mesh refinement. The polygons with hanging nodes in the quadtree decomposition are treated as n−sided polygons within the framework of the SBFEM and do not require any special treatment in contrast to the conventional finite element method. Several benchmark problems are used to demonstrate the robustness and the efficacy of the proposed technique. The adaptive refinement strategy reduces the mesh burden when adopting the PFM to model fracture. Numerical results show an improvement in the computational efficiency in terms of the number of elements required in the standard PFM without compromising the accuracy of the solution.
Adaptive phase-field modelling of fracture propagation in poroelastic media using the scaled boundary finite element method
- Authors: Wijesinghe, Dakshith , Natarajan, Sundararajan , You, Greg , Khandelwal, Manoj , Dyson, Ashley , Song, Chongmin , Ooi, Ean Tat
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering Vol. 411, no. (2023), p.
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- Description: A scaled boundary finite element-based phase field formulation is proposed to model two-dimensional fracture in saturated poroelastic media. The mechanical response of the poroelastic media is simulated following Biot's theory, and the fracture surface evolution is modelled according to the phase field formulation. To avoid the application of fine uniform meshes that are constrained by the element size requirement when adopting phase field models, an adaptive refinement strategy based on quadtree meshes is adopted. The unique advantage of the scaled boundary finite element method is conducive to the application of quadtree adaptivity, as it can be directly formulated on quadtree meshes without the need for any special treatment of hanging nodes. Efficient computation is achieved by exploiting the unique patterns of the quadtree cells. An appropriate scaling is applied to the relevant matrices and vectors according the physical size of the cells in the mesh during the simulations. This avoids repetitive calculations of cells with the same configurations. The proposed model is validated using a benchmark with a known analytical solution. Numerical examples of hydraulic fractures driven by the injected fluid in cracks are modelled to illustrate the capabilities of the proposed model in handling crack propagation problems involving complex geometries. © 2023 The Author(s)
Application of scaled boundary finite element method for delamination analysis of composite laminates using cohesive zone modelling
- Authors: Garg, Nikhil , Prusty, Gangadhara , Ooi, Ean Tat , Song, Chongmin , Pearce, Garth , Phillips, Andrew
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Composite Structures Vol. 253, no. (2020), p. 1-10
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: In this paper, the scaled boundary finite element method (SBFEM) is evaluated for two-dimensional delamination analysis of composite laminates. The delamination phenomenon was studied using cohesive zone modelling (CZM). A bi-linear (triangular) traction-separation law was used to describe the interface behaviour, which was modelled using zero-thickness interface elements. Local arc-length solution technique was used to solve the non-linearity due to the interface behaviour. In this research, pure Mode I and Mode II as well as mixed mode delamination studies have been conducted using the SBFEM formulation. A variety of numerical experiments were performed. Good agreement was observed between the SBFEM simulation and the available numerical and experimental results in the open literature. A comparison between the SBFEM and other traditional methods shows that the presented formulation can solve the same physical problem with a reduction in the computational cost by more than half. The study highlights the advantages of SBFEM over other methods for modelling delamination in composite laminates using CZM.
- Description: This project is conducted within the ARC Training Centre for Automated Manufacture of Advanced Composites (IC160100040), supported by the Commonwealth of Australia under the Australian Research Council's Industrial Transformation Research Program.
Automatic dynamic crack propagation modeling using polygon scaled boundary finite elements
- Authors: Ooi, Ean Tat , Shi, Mingguang , Song, Chongmin , Tin-Loi, Francis , Yang, Zhenjun
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Conference proceedings
- Relation: 22nd Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials, ACMSM 2012; Sydney, NSW; Australia; 11th-14th Dec 2012 published in From Materials to Structures: Advancement Through Innovation p. 411-416
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: This study develops a simple and efficient methodology for automatic dynamic crack propagation modeling in structures. It uses high order, arbitrary n-sided polygon elements that are constructed within the scaled boundary finite element framework. Each polygon is treated as a scaled boundary finite element subdomain and their governing equations of equilibrium are assembled using standard finite element procedures. Polygon meshes are automatically generated from a Delaunay triangulated mesh. This method inherits all the positive characteristics of the scaled boundary finite element method. Orders of singularities of any kind can be accurately represented in a unified manner by generalized stress intensity factors to evaluate the crack propagation criterion without dense meshes around the crack tip, special purpose elements or nodal enrichment functions. Crack propagation is efficiently modeled using a simple, yet flexible automatic local remeshing algorithm that is linked to the pre-processing module of a commercial finite element package and can be applied to any polygon mesh. Remeshing involves only polygons around the crack and only minimally changes the global mesh structure. Application of the methodology to model dynamic crack propagation problems is demonstrated by two numerical examples. It is found that the predicted dynamic fracture parameters e.g. dynamic stress intensity factor histories, crack velocity histories, crack length histories and crack paths show good agreement with experiment observations and numerical simulations reported in the literature. © 2013 Taylor & Francis Group.
- Description: From Materials to Structures: Advancement Through Innovation - Proceedings of the 22nd Australasian Conference on the Mechanics of Structures and Materials, ACMSM 2012
Automatic modelling of cohesive crack propagation in concrete using polygon scaled boundary finite elements
- Authors: Ooi, Ean Tat , Song, Chongmin , Tin-Loi, Francis , Yang, Zhenjun
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Engineering Fracture Mechanics Vol. 93, no. (2012), p. 13-33
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: An automatic cohesive crack propagation modelling methodology for quasi-brittle materials using polygon elements is presented. Each polygon is treated as a subdomain that is modelled by the scaled boundary finite element method (SBFEM). Generalised stress intensity factors (SIFs) based on matrix power function solutions of singular stress fields obtained from the SBFEM following standard finite element stress recovery procedures is used to evaluate the crack propagation criterion and determine the crack propagation direction. Interface elements model the fracture process zones and are automatically inserted into the polygon mesh as the crack propagates. A shadow domain procedure couples the polygons and interface elements. It computes the load-displacement response and crack propagation criterion, taking into account the cohesive tractions on the crack edges that are modelled as side-face tractions in the SBFEM. Cracks are propagated using a simple, yet flexible local remeshing procedure that can remesh any arbitrary polygon. Only minimal changes are made to the global mesh structure each time the remeshing algorithm is called. Five cohesive crack propagation benchmarks are modelled to validate the developed method and demonstrate its salient features. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.