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The peridynamic theory is employed to predict crack growth patterns in quenched glass plates previously considered for an experimental investigation. The plates containing single and multiple preexisting initial cracks are simulated to investigate the effects of peridynamic and experimental parameters on the crack paths. The critical stretch value in the peridynamic theory and the gap size between the heat reservoirs are determined to be the most significant parameters. The simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental observations published in the literature.

The finite element method is widely utilized for the numerical solution of structural problems. However, damage prediction using the finite element method can be very cumbersome because the derivatives of displacements are undefined at the discontinuities. In contrast, the peridynamic theory uses displacements rather than displacement derivatives in its formulation. Hence, peridynamic equations are valid everywhere, including discontinuities. Furthermore, the peridynamic theory does not require an external criterion for crack initiation and propagation since material failure is invoked through the material response. However, the finite element method is numerically more efficient than the peridynamic theory. Hence, this study presents a method to couple the peridynamic theory and finite element analysis to take advantage of both methods. The regions where failure is expected are modeled using peridynamics while remaining regions are modeled utilizing the finite element method. Finally, the present approach is demonstrated through a simple problem and predictions of the present approach are compared against both the peridynamic theory and finite element method. The damage simulation results for the present method are demonstrated by considering a plate with a circular cutout.

Existing and emerging methods in computational mechanics are rarely validated against problems with an unknown outcome. For this reason, Sandia National Laboratories, in partnership with US National Science Foundation and Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division, launched a computational challenge in mid-summer, 2012. Researchers and engineers were invited to predict crack initiation and propagation in a simple but novel geometry fabricated from a common off-the-shelf commercial engineering alloy. The goal of this international Sandia Fracture Challenge was to benchmark the capabilities for the prediction of deformation and damage evolution associated with ductile tearing in structural metals, including physics models, computational methods, and numerical implementations currently available in the computational fracture community. Thirteen teams participated, reporting blind predictions for the outcome of the Challenge. The simulations and experiments were performed independently and kept confidential. The methElectronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10704-013-9904-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, USA e-mail: blboyce@sandia.gov ods for fracture prediction taken by the thirteen teams ranged from very simple engineering calculations to complicated multiscale simulations. The wide variation in modeling results showed a striking lack of consistency across research groups in addressing problems of ductile fracture. While some methods were more successful than others, it is clear that the problem of ductile fracture prediction continues to be challenging. Specific areas of deficiency have been identified through this effort. Also, the effort has underscored the need for additional blind prediction-based assessments.