Simulation of Dynamic Crack Propagation under Quasistatic Loading

Simulation of dynamic crack growth under quasistatic loading was performed using finite element method with embedded incubation time fracture criterion [. Experimental data, used for comparison was taken from [. ANSYS finite element software package was used in order to receive FEM solutions. The fracture criterion was implemented as an external procedure written in C++. The developed model is not using and trimming parameters. Only initial experimental conditions and material properties measured in separate experiments are used. Received dependencies for crack velocities as a function of time closely follow those observed in experiments by J.Finberg. Simulation results provide a possibility to conclude that the incubation time approach is an effective method to predict fracture initiation as well as crack propagation at various loading rates. Dependencies of an instant crack velocity on the current level of stress intensity factor received in this work for quasistatic loads and in [ for high-rate loads is discussed and compared to those experimentally observed by K. Ravi-Chandar and W.G. Knauss [ and J. Finberg [.