Abstract
Cracks widely exist in various geomaterials. They can weaken the overall mechanical performance and increase the permeability, and therefore remarkably affect the safety of a practical project. A novel algorithm to simulate crack propagation was proposed in this study. The location and propagation direction of cracks were determined by the fracture criterion and strength parameters of geomaterials. The randomness of the crack network was assumed to result from the spatial variability of the strength parameter; the latter is described as a random field. In addition, Minkowski densities were adopted to quantify the morphology of the simulated crack networks, including their area, length and connectivity. The proposed simulation algorithm was compatible with the finite element method; as a result, it can be readily imported into finite element method software for numerical modelling, which was exemplified by an elastic–plastic problem. The proposed simulation algorithm shall be of practical value in dealing with geomaterials with cracks in practice.
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