Tracking algorithms constitute an efficient numerical technique for modelling fracture in quasibrittle materials. They succeed in representing localized cracks in the numerical model without mesh-induced directional bias. Currently available tracking algorithms have an important limitation: cracking originates either from the boundary of the discretized domain or from predefined "crack-root" elements and then propagates along one orientation. This paper aims to circumvent this drawback by proposing a novel tracking algorithm that can simulate cracking starting at any point of the mesh and propagating along one or two orientations. This enhancement allows the simulation of structural case-studies experiencing multiple cracking. The proposed approach is validated through the simulation of a benchmark example and an experimentally tested structural frame under in-plane loading. Meshbias independency of the numerical solution, computational cost and predicted collapse mechanisms with and without the tracking algorithm are discussed.
-This paper extends the use of crack-tracking techniques within the smeared crack approach for the numerical simulation of cohesive-frictional damage on quasi-brittle materials. The mechanical behaviour is described by an isotropic damage model with a Mohr-Coulomb failure surface. The correct crack propagation among the two alternative fracture planes proposed by the Mohr-Coulomb theory is selected with the use of an energy criterion based on the total elastic strain energy. The simulation of three benchmark problems of mixed-mode fracture in concrete demonstrates that the proposed methodology can reproduce the material's frictional characteristics, showing robustness, as well as mesh-size and mesh-bias independence.
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