18 research outputs found
Adaptive isogeometric analysis for phaseâfield modeling of anisotropic brittle fracture
The surface energy a phaseâfield approach to brittle fracture in anisotropic materials is also anisotropic and gives rise to secondâorder gradients in the phase field entering the energy functional. This necessitates C 1 continuity of the basis functions which are used to interpolate the phase field. The basis functions which are employed in isogeometric analysis (IGA), such as nonuniform rational Bâsplines and Tâsplines naturally possess a higher order continuity and are therefore ideally suited for phaseâfield models which are equipped with an anisotropic surface energy. Moreover, the high accuracy of spline discretizations, also relative to their computational demand, significantly reduces the fineness of the required discretization. This holds a fortiori if adaptivity is included. Herein, we present two adaptive refinement schemes in IGA, namely, adaptive local refinement and adaptive hierarchical refinement, for phaseâfield simulations of anisotropic brittle fracture. The refinement is carried out using a subdivision operator and exploits the BĂ©zier extraction operator. Illustrative examples are included, which show that the method can simulate highly complex crack patterns such as zigzag crack propagation. An excellent agreement is obtained between the solutions from global refinement and adaptive refinement, with a reasonable reduction of the computational effort when using adaptivity
The use of Powell-Sabin B-Splines in a higher-order phase-field model for crack kinking
Phase-field models for brittle fracture in anisotropic materials result in a fourth-order partial differential equation for the damage evolution. This necessitates a C1 continuity of the basis functions. Here, Powell-Sabin B-splines, which are based on triangles, are used for the approximation of the field variables as well as for the the description of the geometry. The use of triangles makes adaptive mesh refinement and discrete crack insertion straightforward. BĂ©zier extraction is used to cast the B-splines in a standard finite element format. A procedure to impose Dirichlet boundary condition is provided for these elements. The versatility and accuracy of the approach are assessed in two case studies, featuring crack kinking and zig-zag crack propagation. It is also shown that the adaptive refinement well captures the evolution of the phase field