Adaptive combined DE/FE algorithm for brittle fracture of plane stress problems

Abstract

A novel adaptive combined DE/FE algorithm is proposed to simulate the fracture procedure of brittle materials of plane stress problems. The main concept of the approach is that a model is composed of the finite element completely at the initial stage without any discrete element generated until portion of the model grid becoming severely deformed; and then the model is fragmented into two subdomains, the finite element (FE) and the discrete element (DE) subdomains. The interface force between the two subdomains is calculated by using the penalty method. An extrinsic cohesive fracture model is employed to simulate the brittle fracture procedure only in the DE subdomain. The adaptive algorithm may allow for the use of the accurate and efficient FEs in the lower distorted region and the DEs which are automatically generated in the severely deformed FE region . The feasibility of the adaptive algorithm is validated by the impact fracture simulation of a glass beam. The comparison of calculation time consumption shows that the adaptive algorithm has a higher efficiency than the DEM. At last, the impact fracture behavior of a laminated glass beam is simulated, and the cracks propagation is compared with the experimental results showing that the adaptive algorithm can be implemented to capture some fracture characteristics of brittle materials.