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SAMCEF offers specific tools for meshing and analyzing two- and three-dimensional problems in fracture mechanics. These tools aim at determining the different fracture mechanics parameters at the crack front, that is the stress-intensity factors Ki, the energy release rates Gi and the J-integrals Ji. Materials are considered isotropic linear, nonlinear elastic or elastoplastic. The loading is thermo-mechanical. |
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SAMCEF includes many facilities to describe the geometry of the cracks and to generate a mesh around them. The various cracks properties are computed by several methods, depending on the material behavior and the kind of problem (two- or three-dimensional).
Mesh generation
Different automatic meshing tools are available for two- and three-dimensional problems. In one single operation, a mesh around the crack is generated, including specific quarter-point elements of Barsoum. For three-dimensional cases, the crack front can be either straight, parabolic, elliptical, or even a spline. In order to define the mesh of a crack, CAD entities, like points and lines, can be used, which facilitates the connection to the rest of the structure and the parameterization of the model.
Direct computation of the Ki : linear elasticity, 2-D, 3-D
In two- and three dimensional problems, the stress-intensity factors can be computed from the nodal displacements values, in a linear elastic analysis. The direction of the crack propagation is also provided, using the Sih criterion. The stresses conditions can be imposed or evaluated automatically, for considering the transition zone between the plane strain conditions in the interior of the structure, and the plane stress conditions at the surfaces.
The Virtual Crack Extension method: linear elasticity, 2-D, 3-D
The Virtual Crack Extension method aims at computing the energy release rate, that is the derivative of the strain elastic energy wi generate a mesh around them. The various cracks properties are computed by several methods, depending on the material behavior and the kind of problem (two- or three-dimensional). |
