Modeling impact fracture in a quasi-brittle solids using a 3D nonlocal graph-based finite element analysis: Theory, finite element simulations, and experimental verification

Abstract

In this work, the authors have developed and implemented a novel nonlocal three-dimensional graph-based finite element approach for simulating fracture in quasi-brittle solids as an extension of their previous work in two dimensions. In order to validate the nonlocal aspects of the model, the authors have also fabricated a gypsum-based particulate composite with silica particles of specific dimensions and mass fractions, thus the length scale of the material is fixed by the particulate media. The GraFEA fracture model is implemented in a graphics processing unit (GPU) parallel computing environment that allows substantial speed-up of the simulations in both cases of impact and quasi-static loading conditions. The improvement in computational performance is especially essential for carrying out the simulation of parametric study. Comparison of the physical response of this specially designed composite with the three-dimensional nonlocal GraFEA shows that the model is capable of simulating fracture in such materials. Finally, the efficacy of simulating impact response of concrete including crack closure behavior is tested by simulating hammer drop test for the concrete beam sample and cyclic shear loading on the circumferentially-notched concrete cylinder sample.