Product: Abaqus/Standard
Benefits: The extended finite element method (XFEM) allows you to model discontinuities, such as cracks, along an arbitrary, solution-dependent path during an analysis. This method can now be extended to support the application of distributed pressure loads to the cracked element surfaces, which makes the analysis more realistic. To reduce mesh dependence, you can specify where the stress/strain values are used to determine if the crack propagation criterion is satisfied.
Description: The extended finite element method allows you to model crack growth without remeshing the crack surfaces since it does not require the mesh to match the geometry of the crack. As a crack initiates and propagates through the model, a crack surface representing both facets of the cracked elements is generated on those enriched elements that are intersected by a crack during the analysis. Distributed pressure loads can now be applied to the crack surface.
You can specify if the stress/strain values at the element centroid, at the crack tip, or the combination of both locations are used to measure the crack propagation criterion.
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