Phase-field modeling of brittle and ductile fracture in shells with isogeometric NURBS-based solid-shell elements

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate fracture in shells with a phase-field modeling approach. The shell model is based on solid-shell kinematics with small rotations and displacements and is discretized using quadratic Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline basis functions. Membrane and shear locking is alleviated through the Assumed Natural Strain approach. The solid-shell formulation is combined with a brittle phase-field model for elastic materials, as well as with a ductile fracture model for elasto-plastic materials exhibiting J2 plasticity with isotropic hardening. Several examples demonstrate the ability of the proposed framework to capture crack initiation, propagation, merging and branching phenomena as well as crack bulging effects in shells under different states of loading.