A coupling approach of the isogeometric–meshfree method and peridynamics for static and dynamic crack propagation

Abstract

A coupling approach of the isogeometric–meshfree method and the peridynamic method is developed for static and dynamic crack propagation. The coupling approach exhibits advantages in the flexibility of modeling cracks and the exactness of geometry representation. The isogeometric–meshfree method, which adopts the moving least-squares approximations to establish the equivalence between meshfree shape functions and isogeometric basis functions, is capable of obtaining the exact geometry. The isogeometric–meshfree nodes located on the geometry can be directly coupled with peridynamic points by the balanced force principle, which is straightforward and effective. With this approach, the boundary conditions can be enforced directly using the isogeometric–meshfree method, and the surface effects of peridynamics are effectively eliminated. Moreover, the present approach is flexible in switching the isogeometric–meshfree nodes to peridynamic points and achieving adaptive coupling with the same convergence rate as the one for the isogeometric–meshfree method, which is higher than the one for the original peridynamic method. The dual-horizon peridynamic method is adopted for non-uniform discretization. Based on the exact geometry representation, the coupling approach is further extended to crack problems with contact loading. Several representative examples are presented to validate the effectiveness of the present approach in solving static/dynamic crack problems and studying fractures caused by contact.