Novel anisotropic continuum-discrete damage model capable of representing localized failure of massive structures

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present a finite element model capable of describing both the diffuse damage mechanism which develops first during the loading of massive brittle structures and the failure process, essentially due to the propagation of a macro-crack responsible for the softening behaviour of the structure. The theoretical developments for such a model are presented, considering an isotropic damage model for the continuum and a Coulomb-type criterion for the localized part.Design methodology approach - This is achieved by activating subsequently diffuse and localized damage mechanisms. Localized phenomena are taken into account by means of the introduction of a displacement discontinuity at the element level.Findings - It was found that, with such an approach, the final crack direction is predicted quite well, in fact much better than the prediction made by the fracture mechanics type of models considering combination of only elastic response and softening.Originality value - The presented model has the potential to describe complex damage phenomena in a cyclic and or non-proportional loading program, such as crack closing and re-opening, cohesive resistance deterioration due to tangential sliding, by using only a few parameters compared to the traditional models for cyclic loading.