Extended isogeometric analysis of a progressively fracturing fluid‐saturated porous medium

An extended isogeometric analysis (XIGA) approach is proposed for modeling fracturing in a fluid‐saturated porous material. XIGA provides a definition of the discontinuity independent of the underlying mesh layout, which obviates the need of knowing the crack extension direction a priori. Unlike Lagrange shape functions used in the standard finite element approach, non‐uniform rational B‐splines (NURBS) provide a higher‐order interelement continuity which leads to a continuous fluid flow also at element boundaries, thereby satisfying the local mass balance. It also leads to an improved estimate of the crack path due to a smoother stress distribution. The NURBS basis functions are cast in finite element data structure using Bézier extraction. To model the discontinuity, the Heaviside sign function is utilized within the displacement and the pressure fields, complemented by the shifting and the blending techniques to enforce compatibility perpendicular and parallel to the crack path, respectively. Different aspects of the approach are assessed through examples comprising straight and curved crack paths for stationary and propagating discontinuities.