Current techniques for the objective simulation of dynamic crack propagation are highly complex and remain computationally expensive, making the simulation of dynamic crack propagation challenging. Based on the peridynamic theory, it allows discontinuities in the displacement field and promises the fracture simulation. However, a peridynamic model often involves intractable computational costs. As an alternative, an adaptive coupling modeling between the peridynamics and classical continuum mechanics is developed for the dynamic crack propagation and crack branching in this work, using the Morphing coupling method presented in previous work (Lubineau et al., J Mech Phys Solids 60(6):1088–1102, 2012). The Morphing method is promising for the adaptive introduction of the peridynamic model (i.e., a nonlocal model) during the dynamic crack propagation, while the rest of the structure outside the peridynamic region is described using the local model based on the continuum mechanics. Thus, a hybrid local/nonlocal model system is established through adaptive coupling modeling. Moreover, the discontinuous Galerkin finite elements (DGFEs) are adopted in the pure peridynamic and hybrid regions, while the finite elements are adopted in the rest of the structure. A benchmark dynamic fracture problem containing branching patterns is used to verify the adaptive coupling of dynamic models. The results show that the simulation based on the adaptive coupling of dynamic models captures the main features during the dynamic crack propagation and branching. Furthermore, the convergence studies on time increments and mesh density under uniform grid refinement (m-convergence) and under changing the peridynamic horizon (δ-convergence) are also proposed.
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