Implementation of a high-accuracy manifold element modelling scheme for dynamic fracture analysis under thermal-mechanical shock

Abstract

In this study, a high-accuracy numerical manifold modelling scheme is proposed for simulating dynamic thermoelastic fracture problems of two-dimensional stationary cracks in linear elastic solids. The advantages of the numerical manifold method in discretizing the physical model with multiple discontinuities, and those of the precise time step integration method in time integral are integrated together in the proposed numerical scheme. The implementation details of the proposed modelling scheme are well presented. Dynamic stress intensity factor considering the inertial effect is computed. Through three dynamic fracture examples with pure thermal shock, heat flux shock and mechanical shock, respectively, the validity of the present scheme is first verified. Then the proposed scheme is applied for dynamic fracture analysis under mixed thermal-mechanical shock, in which different loading forms, such as step loading, linear loading and harmonic loading, are considered. The results show that the present modelling scheme is extremely stable and convergence. The advantages of the present scheme on accuracy, efficiency, time-step-independence over commonly used Newmark method are also fully demonstrated.