Effect of crack on the impact response of plates by the extended finite element method (X-FEM)

Abstract

The dynamic response of cracked isotropic plates subjected to impact loading is studied in this paper. The impact properties of cracked plate are compared with the virgin ones to predict the eventual presence of discontinuities in plates. The extended finite element method (X-FEM) is employed in the mathematical modeling of the impact problem, wherein the effects of shear deformation is considered. Conventional finite element without any discontinuity is initially conducted in the numerical implementation. Enriched functions are then added to the nodal displacement field for element nodes that contain cracks. The effects of crack length and crack position on contact force and on plate deflection are analyzed. Results show that the maximal contact force decreases as the deflection increases with increasing crack length a. The effect of crack position on the dynamic response is less pronounced when the crack is near the fixed end.