Fracture mechanics has established itself as an important discipline of growing interest to those working to assess the safety, reliability and service life of engineering structures and materials. In order to calculate the loading situation at cracks and defects, nowadays numerical techniques like finite element method (FEM) have become indispensable tools for a broad range of applications. The present monograph provides an introduction to the essential concepts of fracture mechanics, its main goal being to procure the special techniques for FEM analysis of crack problems, which have to date only been mastered by experts. All kinds of static, dynamic and fatigue fracture problems are treated in two- and three-dimensional elastic and plastic structural components. The usage of the various solution techniques is demonstrated by means of sample problems selected from practical engineering case studies. The primary target group includes graduate students, researchers in academia and engineers in practice.

Novel techniques for modeling 3D cracks and their evolution in solids are presented. Cracks are modeled in terms of signed distance functions (level sets). Stress, strain and displacement field are determined using the extended finite elements method (X-FEM). Non-linear constitutive behavior for the crack tip region are developed within this framework to account for non-linear effect in crack propagation. Applications for static or dynamics case are provided.

Introduces the theory and applications of the extended finite element method (XFEM) in the linear and nonlinear problems of continua, structures and geomechanics Explores the concept of partition of unity, various enrichment functions, and fundamentals of XFEM formulation. Covers numerous applications of XFEM including fracture mechanics, large deformation, plasticity, multiphase flow, hydraulic fracturing and contact problems Accompanied by a website hosting source code and examples

The Boundary Integral Equation (BIE) method has occupied me to various degrees for the past twenty-two years. The attraction of BIE analysis has been its unique combination of mathematics and practical application. The EIE method is unforgiving in its requirement for mathe matical care and its requirement for diligence in creating effective numerical algorithms. The EIE method has the ability to provide critical inSight into the mathematics that underlie one of the most powerful and useful modeling approximations ever devised--elasticity. The method has even revealed important new insights into the nature of crack tip plastic strain distributions. I believe that EIE modeling of physical problems is one of the remaining opportunities for challenging and fruitful research by those willing to apply sound mathematical discipline coupled with phys ical insight and a desire to relate the two in new ways. The monograph that follows is the summation of many of the successes of that twenty-two years, supported by the ideas and synergisms that come from working with individuals who share a common interest in engineering mathematics and their application. The focus of the monograph is on the application of EIE modeling to one of the most important of the solid mechanics disciplines--fracture mechanics. The monograph is not a trea tise on fracture mechanics, as there are many others who are far more qualified than I to expound on that topic.

This important textbook provides an introduction to the concepts of the newly developed extended finite element method (XFEM) for fracture analysis of structures, as well as for other related engineering applications. One of the main advantages of the method is that it avoids any need for remeshing or geometric crack modelling in numerical simulation, while generating discontinuous fields along a crack and around its tip. The second major advantage of the method is that by a small increase in number of degrees of freedom, far more accurate solutions can be obtained. The method has recently been extended to nonlinear materials and other disciplines such as modelling contact and interface, simulation of inclusions and holes, moving and changing phase problems, and even to multiscale analyses. The book is self contained, with summaries of both classical and modern computational techniques. The main chapters include a comprehensive range of numerical examples describing various features of XFEM.