Modelling of triaxial fracture processes in heterogeneous quasi-brittle materials using the Embedded Finite Element Method (E-FEM)

Abstract

This paper studies the use of the Embedded Finite Element Method (E-FEM) for the numerical modelling of triaxial fracture processes in non-homogeneous quasi-brittle materials. The E-FEM framework used in this study combines two kinematics enhancements: a weak discontinuity allowing the model to account for material heterogeneities and a strong discontinuity allowing the model to represent local fractures. The strong discontinuity features enriched fracture kinematics that allow the modelling of all typical fracture modes in three dimensions. A brief review is done of past work using similar enriched finite element frameworks to approach this problem. The work continues by establishing the theoretical basis of each kind of discontinuity formulation and their superposition through the Hu-Washizu variational principle. Afterwards, two groups of simulations have been done for discussing the performance of this combined E-FEM model: homogeneous simulations and simple heterogeneous simulations. Simple homogeneous material simulations aim to test the capabilities of the strong discontinuity model featuring full 3-D kinematics. Simple heterogeneous simulations show numerical applications of the model to the problem of a single spherical inclusion embedded into a homogeneous matrix. Comparisons will be made with another E-FEM model considering a single local fracture mode approach to discuss the differences on the representation of fracture physics under all explored conditions. A concluding statement is made on the benefits and complications identified for the E-FEM framework in this kind of applications.