A comparison of delamination models: Modeling, properties, and applications

This contribution presents recent results in the modeling and the analysis of delamination problems. It addresses adhesive contact, brittle, and cohesive zone models both in a quasistatic and a viscous, dynamic setting for the bulk part. Also different evolution laws for the delaminating surface are discussed

Mesh adaptivity for quasi-static phase-field fractures based on a residual-type a posteriori error estimator

In this work, we consider adaptive mesh refinement for a monolithic phase-field description for fractures in brittle materials. Our approach is based on an a posteriori error estimator for the phase-field variational inequality realizing the fracture irreversibility constraint. The key goal is the development of a reliable and efficient residual-type error estimator for the phase-field fracture model in each time-step. Based on this error estimator, error indicators for local mesh adaptivity are extracted. The proposed estimator is based on a technique known for singularly perturbed equations in combination with estimators for variational inequalities. These theoretical developments are used to formulate an adaptive mesh refinement algorithm. For the numerical solution, the fracture irreversibility is imposed using a Lagrange multiplier. The resulting saddle-point system has three unknowns: displacements, phase-field, and a Lagrange multiplier for the crack irreversibility. Several numerical experiments demonstrate our theoretical findings with the newly developed estimators and the corresponding refinement strategy.Comment: This is the preprint version of an accepted article to be published in the GAMM-Mitteilungen 2019. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/1522260

An iterative staggered scheme for phase field brittle fracture propagation with stabilizing parameters

This paper concerns the analysis and implementation of a novel iterative staggered scheme for quasi-static brittle fracture propagation models, where the fracture evolution is tracked by a phase field variable. The model we consider is a two-field variational inequality system, with the phase field function and the elastic displacements of the solid material as independent variables. Using a penalization strategy, this variational inequality system is transformed into a variational equality system, which is the formulation we take as the starting point for our algorithmic developments. The proposed scheme involves a partitioning of this model into two subproblems; phase field and mechanics, with added stabilization terms to both subproblems for improved efficiency and robustness. We analyze the convergence of the proposed scheme using a fixed point argument, and find that under a natural condition, the elastic mechanical energy remains bounded, and, if the diffusive zone around crack surfaces is sufficiently thick, monotonic convergence is achieved. Finally, the proposed scheme is validated numerically with several bench-mark problems.publishedVersio

Γ\Gamma-convergence for high order phase field fracture: continuum and isogeometric formulations

We consider second order phase field functionals, in the continuum setting, and their discretization with isogeometric tensor product B-splines. We prove that these functionals, continuum and discrete, $\Gamma$-converge to a brittle fracture energy, defined in the space $GSBD^2$. In particular, in the isogeometric setting, since the projection operator is not Lagrangian (i.e., interpolatory) a special construction is needed in order to guarantee that recovery sequences take values in $[0,1]$; convergence holds, as expected, if $h = o (\varepsilon)$, being $h$ the size of the physical mesh and $\varepsilon$ the internal length in the phase field energy

A posteriori estimator for the adaptive solution of a quasi-static fracture phase-field model with irreversibility constraints

Within this article, we develop a residual type a posteriori error estimator for a time discrete quasi-static phase-field fracture model. Particular emphasize is given to the robustness of the error estimator for the variational inequality governing the phase-field evolution with respect to the phase-field regularization parameter $\epsilon$. The article concludes with numerical examples highlighting the performance of the proposed a posteriori error estimators on three standard test cases; the single edge notched tension and shear test as well as the L-shaped panel test

Truncated Nonsmooth Newton Multigrid for phase-field brittle-fracture problems

We propose the Truncated Nonsmooth Newton Multigrid Method (TNNMG) as a solver for the spatial problems of the small-strain brittle-fracture phase-field equations. TNNMG is a nonsmooth multigrid method that can solve biconvex, block-separably nonsmooth minimization problems in roughly the time of solving one linear system of equations. It exploits the variational structure inherent in the problem, and handles the pointwise irreversibility constraint on the damage variable directly, without penalization or the introduction of a local history field. Memory consumption is significantly lower compared to approaches based on direct solvers. In the paper we introduce the method and show how it can be applied to several established models of phase-field brittle fracture. We then prove convergence of the solver to a solution of the nonsmooth Euler-Lagrange equations of the spatial problem for any load and initial iterate. Numerical comparisons to an operator-splitting algorithm show a speed increase of more than one order of magnitude, without loss of robustness

Phase field approximation of cohesive fracture models

We obtain a cohesive fracture model as a $\Gamma$-limit of scalar damage models in which the elastic coefficient is computed from the damage variable $v$ through a function $f_k$ of the form $f_k(v)=min\{1,\varepsilon_k^{1/2} f(v)\}$, with $f$ diverging for $v$ close to the value describing undamaged material. The resulting fracture energy can be determined by solving a one-dimensional vectorial optimal profile problem. It is linear in the opening $s$ at small values of $s$ and has a finite limit as $s\to\infty$. If the function $f$ is allowed to depend on the index $k$, for specific choices we recover in the limit Dugdale's and Griffith's fracture models, and models with surface energy density having a power-law growth at small openings