Application of XFEM in Metal Fracture Analysis

Abstract

Metal fracture is a complex discontinuous mechanical problem, having geometric mutation in the object. The extended finite element method (XFEM) follows the frame of conventional finite element method (CFEM) and succeeds in solving the problems of contour stress and strain concentration at the crack tip, which is the effective method to analyze the metal fracture problems recently. In this paper, the basic theory of XFEM is introduced firstly. And then the two metal fracture examples are simulated by XFEM. The whole failure process, including initiation, propagation and abruption of crack, is simulated successfully, which indicates the feasibility and advantage of applying XFEM to the metal fracture analysis.