An SPIM-FEM adapting coupling approach for the analysis of quasi-brittle media

Abstract

This paper presents an adaptive coupling approach between meshless Smoothed Point Interpolation Methods (SPIMs) and the Finite Element Method (FEM) for the physically nonlinear analysis of quasi-brittle media. The nonlinear behaviour is represented by scalar damage and smeared-crack models. In the proposed adaptive coupling approach, the domain is initially discretised with a relatively coarse FEM mesh. During the solution process, FEM patches are replaced by meshless discretisations according to certain selection criteria. Refinement is also considered.