Symmetric Galerkin boundary element analysis of the interaction between multiple growing cracks in infinite domains

The use of the symmetric Galerkin boundary element method (SGBEM) for studying the quasi-static interaction between multiple growing micro-cracks is presented in this work. The micro-cracks can conveniently be modeled in infinite domains, and this type of analysis can be handled by the SGBEM in a straightforward manner. In fact, it reduces the size of the analysis due to the absence of a physical boundary. A quasi-static multi-crack growth model based upon the maximum hoop stress criterion (MHSC), and the SGBEM was developed in this work. An improved quarter-point crack-tip element and adjusted maximum crack increments were employed to enhance the accuracy and effectiveness of the crack growth prediction. The improved quarter-point element has been known for producing accurate stress intensity factors required by the MHSC, while the technique used to adjust the maximum crack increment at each iteration of crack growth simulations allows to achieve converged (accurate) crack extension paths even if a relatively large maximum crack increment is selected at the onset. Several numerical examples were presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed multi-crack growth model.