A continuous-discontinuous approach to simulate fracture processes in quasi-brittle materials

Peter Moonen (1, 2) , Jan Carmeliet (3, 4) , Bert Sluys (1)

1 Department of Civil Engineering and Geosciences [Delft]
2 Department of Civil Engineering
3 Laboratory for Building Technologies
4 Department of Architecture, Instutute for Building Technology

A macroscopic framework for the simulation of failure processes in quasi-brittle materials is proposed. The framework employs the partition of unity (PU) concept and introduces a new cohesive zone model, capturing the transition between the initial continuum state and the final localized damage state. The model is generic in a sense that it allows extending most continuum models to a discontinuous framework in an efficient and robust way, hereby adding the effect of macro-crack formation by the growth and coalescence of micro-defects. Both material failure and interface failure can be studied with this formulation.

Mots clés: Physical Sciences

Peter Moonen, Jan Carmeliet, Bert Sluys. A continuous-discontinuous approach to simulate fracture processes in quasi-brittle materials. Philosophical Magazine, 2009, 88 (28-29), pp.3281-3298. ⟨10.1080/14786430802566398⟩. ⟨hal-00513994⟩