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Structural Engineering and Mechanics
  Volume 49, Number 5, March10 2014 , pages 597-618
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12989/sem.2014.49.5.597
 


An investigation into the effects of voids, inclusions and minor cracks on major crack propagation by using XFEM
Shouyan Jiang, Chengbin Du and Chongshi Gu

 
Abstract
    For the structures containing multiple discontinuities (voids, inclusions, and cracks), the simulation technologies in the framework of extended finite element method (XFEM) are discussed in details. The level set method is used for representing the location of inner discontinuous interfaces so that the mesh does not need to align with these discontinuities. Several illustrations have been given to verify that the implemented XFEM program is effective. Then, the implemented XFEM program is used to investigate the effects of the voids, inclusions, and minor cracks on the path of major crack propagation. For a plate containing cracks and voids, two possibly crack path can be observed: i) the crack propagates into the void; ii) the crack initially curves towards the void, then, the crack reorients itself and propagates along its original orientation. For a plate with a soft inclusion, the final predicted crack paths tend to close with the inclusion, and an evident difference of crack paths can be observed with different inclusion material properties. However, for a plate with a hard inclusion, the paths tend to away from the inclusion, and a slightly difference of crack paths can only be seen with different inclusion material properties. For a plate with several minor cracks, the trend of crack paths can still be described as that the crack initially curves towards these minor cracks, and then, the crack reorients itself and propagates almost horizontally along its original orientation.
 
Key Words
    extended finite element method; crack propagation; voids; inclusions; cracks
 
Address
Shouyan Jiang and Chongshi Gu : College of Water Conservancy and Hydropower Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
Chengbin Du : College of Mechanics and Materials, Hohai University, Nanjing 210098, China
 

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