3/11/2014

Live eSeminar

Using XFEM in Abaqus to Model Fracture and Crack

Propagation

1/23/2014
www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

Arun Krishnan, PhD

Simulia Central

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 3/11/2014

Training Spotlight on Modeling Fracture and Failure with Abaqus

Agenda:

Introduction to Fracture and Failure

What is XFEM?
Basic XFEM Concepts
Damage Modeling
Creating an XFEM Fracture Model
www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

Examples of XFEM models

Limitations
Demo: Crack Growth in a Three-point Bend Specimen using XFEM

45 minutes

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 3/11/2014

Modeling Fracture & Failure with Abaqus

Training Course Schedule http://www.3ds.com/simulia-training

North America Schedule Location International

Location
February 11-13, 2014 Houston, TX Schedule
March 25-27, 2014 Online / West Lafayette, February 25-27, Vlizy-Villacoublay,
IN 2014 France
Followed by Hands-on *Download the French PDF course
www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

Workshop on Mar. 28, overview here.

2014 March 25-27, 2014 Stockholm, Sweden
July 15-17, 2014 Online / Minneapolis
April 7-9, 2014 Munich, Germany
(Eagan), MN
Followed by Hands-on April 28-30, 2014 Warrington,
Workshop on July 18, United Kingdom
2014 May 7-9, 2014 Vienna, Austria
October 7-9, 2014 Houston, TX September 15-17, Beijing, China
October 28-30, 2014 Online / Cincinnati 2014
(Mason), OH October 22-24, 2014 Munich, Germany
Followed by Hands-on
October 27-29, 2014 Vienna, Austria
Workshop on Oct 31,
2014 November 3-5, 2014 Hammersmith,
United Kingdom
November 18-20, 2014 Cleveland, OH
Followed by Hands-on December 17-19, Maarssen,
Workshop on Nov. 11, 2014 Netherlands
2014

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Introduction (1/3) What is Fracture Mechanics?

Fracture mechanics is the field of solid mechanics that deals with the behavior of cracked bodies subjected to
stresses and strains.

These can arise from primary applied loads or secondary self-equilibrating stress fields (e.g., residual
stresses).
www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

The objective of fracture mechanics is to characterize the local deformation around a crack tip in terms
of the asymptotic field around the crack tip scaled by parameters that are a function of the loading and
global geometry.

Different theories have been proposed to describe the fracture process in order to develop predictive
capabilities (LEFM, Cohesive zone models, EPFM etc.)

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Introduction (2/3) Basic concepts (LEFM)

Fracture modes

Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics (LEFM)

considers three distinct fracture modes: Modes
I, II, and III

These encompass all possible ways a crack tip

can deform.
www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

The objective of LEFM is to predict the critical

loads that will cause a crack to grow in a brittle
material.

Stress intensity factor

For isotropic, linear elastic materials, LEFM

characterizes the local crack-tip stress field in
the linear elastic (i.e., brittle) material using a
single parameter called the stress intensity
factor K.
K depends upon the applied stress, the size
and placement of the crack, as well as the
geometry of the specimen.
Critical value of K is denoted as Kc and known
as fracture toughness.

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Introduction (3/3) Fracture Modeling Methods

Two major objectives in fracture mechanics simulations:

Stationary crack

To determine J-integral, stress intensity factors, crack propagation direction etc.

Propagating crack (for crack propagation and delamination)

www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

Cohesive elements/surface

Virtual Crack Closure Technique (VCCT)

Material damage and failure

Low-cycle fatigue

XFEM

Shortcomings of traditional methods in FEM for fracture mechanics simulations

Time consuming to prepare mesh for crack (focused mesh, crack-tip singularity, degenerate elements)

Need advance knowledge of potential crack path (Cohesive elements, VCCT)

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What is XFEM (1/3) eXtended Finite Element Method

The classical fracture modeling techniques only permit crack propagation along predefined element
boundaries. (not through elements)

XFEM is a technique to model bulk fracture which permits a crack to be located in the element interior

Mesh-independent crack modeling.

Can be used in conjunction with the cohesive zone model or VCCT

www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

Modeling delamination in conjunction with bulk crack propagation

Can be used for stationary crack and propagating crack simulations

Can be used in general static and implicit dynamics procedures (Standard)

Easy to use and very powerful technique. (available in Abaqus since 2009)

Applications of this technique include

Modeling of bulk fracture (Eg. Cracks in pressure vessels)

Failure in composites (Eg. Fiber and matrix cracking in laminated composites

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What is XFEM (2/3) Advantages of XFEM

Ease of initial crack definition

Mesh is generated independent of the crack

Partitioning of geometry not needed at the crack location as in the case of conventional FEM

Nonlinear material and nonlinear geometric analysis

Solution-dependent crack initiation and propagation path

www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

Crack path and the crack location do not have to be specified a priori

Mesh refinement studies are much simpler

Reduced remeshing effort

Improved convergence rates in case of stationary cracks

Due to the use of singular crack tip enrichment

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What is XFEM (3/3) Basic ingredients of XFEM

Mesh-independent crack modeling basic ingredients

1. Need a way to incorporate discontinuous geometry the crack and the discontinuous solution field
into the finite element basis functions

eXtended Finite Element Method (XFEM)

2. Need to quantify the magnitude of the discontinuity the displacement jump across the crack faces
www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

Heavyside function
Phantom nodes

3. Need a method to locate the discontinuity

Level set method (LSM)

4. Crack initiation and propagation criteria

At what level of stress or strain does the crack initiate?

What is the direction of propagation?
Cohesive elements
Virtual Crack Closure Technique

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Basic XFEM Concepts (1/3) Displacement interpolation

XFEM displacement interpolation

Heaviside enrichment term

H(x) Heaviside distribution
aI Nodal enriched DOF (jump discontinuity)
N Nodes belonging to elements cut by crack
www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

4
u (x) N I (x) u I H (x )a I F (x)b I
h

1
I N I N
I N

uI Nodal DOF for conventional Crack tip enrichment term

shape functions NI F(x) Crack tip asymptotic functions
Nodal DOF (crack tip enrichment)
bI
N Nodes belonging to elements containing crack tip

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Basic XFEM Concepts (2/3) Level set method

Level set method for locating a crack

A level set (also called level surface or isosurface) of a real-valued function is the set of all points at
which the function attains a specified value

Example: the zero-valued level set of f (x, y) x2 y2 r2 is a circle of radius r centered at the
origin
www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

Popular technique for representing surfaces in interface tracking problems

Two functions and are used to completely describe the crack

The level set = 0 represents the crack face

The intersection of level sets = 0 and = 0 denotes the crack front
Functions are defined by nodal values whose spatial variation is determined by the usual finite
element shape functions (example follows)
Function values need to be specified only at nodes belonging to elements cut by the crack

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Basic XFEM Concepts (3/3) Level set method

Calculating and

The nodal value of the function is the signed distance of the node from the crack face

Positive value on one side of the crack face, negative on the other

The nodal value of the function is the signed distance of the node from an almost-orthogonal surface
www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

passing through the crack front

The function has zero value on this surface and is negative on the side towards the crack

= 0 =0

Node

1 0.25 1.5
1 2
2 0.25 1.0 0.5
3 0.25 1.5
3 4
4 0.25 1.0

1.5

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Damage Modeling (1/3)

Two distinct types of damage modeling within an XFEM framework

Cohesive damage
Linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM)

Cohesive damage

Uses traction-separation laws

www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

Follows the general framework introduced earlier for element-based cohesive behavior
Damage properties are specified as part of the bulk material definition

LEFM-based damage

Uses the virtual crack closure technique (VCCT)

VCCT for XFEM uses the same principles as those presented earlier
Damage properties are specified via an interaction property assigned to the XFEM crack
Enables modeling low-cycle fatigue

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Damage Modeling (2/3) Cohesive Damage Modeling

Delamination applications T
Traction separation law N

Typically characterized by peak strength (N)

and fracture energy (GTC)
Mode dependent

GT C
www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

Linear elasticity with damage

Available in both Abaqus/Standard and
Abaqus/Explicit

Modeling of damage
Damage initiation Typical traction-separation response
I. Traction or separation-based 7

criterion 6
Shear mode
Damage evolution 5

Removal of elements 4
Normal mode

GTC
3

0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

Mode Mix

Dependence of fracture energy

on mode mix

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Damage Modeling (3/3) LEFM-based Damage Modeling

VCCT uses LEFM concepts

Based on computing the energy release Pure Mode I

rates for normal and shear crack-tip Modified VCCT
deformation modes.

Compare energy release rates to

interlaminar fracture toughness.
www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

See Rybicki, E. F., and Kanninen, M. F., "A Node numbers

are shown
Finite Element Calculation of Stress Intensity
Nodes 2 and 5 will start to release when:
Factors by a Modified Crack Closure Integral,"
Engineering Fracture Mechanics, Vol. 9, pp. 1 v1,6 Fv ,2,5
GI GIC Mode II treated
931-938, 1977. 2 bd
similarly
where
GI mode I energy release rate
GIC critical mode I energy release rate
b width
Fv,2,5 vertical force between nodes 2 and 5
*An enhanced version of VCCT is
v1,6 vertical displacement between nodes 1 and 6
available to model ductile fracture.

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Creating an XFEM Fracture Model (1/4)

Steps

1. Define damage criteria

a. If cohesive damage is being used, define damage criteria in the material model
b. If LEFM is being used, then specify damage criteria in the interaction property definition

2. Define an enrichment region

www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

Crack type stationary (3D only) or propagating (2D or 3D)

3. Define an initial crack, if present, and assign the appropriate interaction property

4. If needed, set analysis controls to aid convergence

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Creating an XFEM Fracture Model (2/4)

Step-dependent enrichment activation

Crack growth can be activated or deactivated in analysis steps

*STEP 1
.
.
.
www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

*ENRICHMENT, NAME=Crack-1, ACTIVATE=[ON|OFF]

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Creating an XFEM Fracture Model (3/4)

Output quantities

Two output variables are especially useful

PHILSM
I. The scaled signed distance function used to represent the crack surface
II. The scale factor is chosen on a per element basis.
www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

III. Needed for visualizing the crack

STATUSXFEM
I. Indicates the status of the element with a value between 0.0 and 1.0
II. A value of 1.0 indicates that the element is completely cracked, with no traction across the
crack faces

Any other output variable available in the static stress analysis procedure

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Creating an XFEM Fracture Model (4/4)

Postprocessing

The crack location is specified by the zero-valued level set of the signed distance function

Abaqus/CAE automatically creates an isosurface view cut named Crack_PHILSM if an

enrichment is used in the analysis
The crack isosurface is displayed by default
www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

Contour plots of field quantities should be done with the crack isosurface displayed

Ensures that the solution is plotted from the active parts of the overlaid elements according to the
phantom nodes approach
If the crack isosurface is turned off, only values from the lower element are plotted
(corresponding to negative values of )

Probing field quantities on an element currently returns values only from the lower element (on the side
with negative values of )

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Example 1 Crack Initiation and Propagation using Cohesive Damage (1/11)

Model crack initiation and propagation in a plate with a hole

Crack initiates at the location of maximum stress concentration

Half model is used to take advantage of symmetry

Modeled using traction-separation based cohesive damage

www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

Reference: Abaqus Benchmark Problem 1.19.2

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Example 1 Crack Initiation and Propagation using Cohesive Damage (2/11)

1 Define the damage criteria

Damage initiation

*MATERIAL
.
.
.
*DAMAGE INITIATION, CRITERION=MAXPS, TOL=0.01
www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

22e6

Damage initiation tolerance (default 0.05)

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Example 1 Crack Initiation and Propagation using Cohesive Damage (3/11)

1 Define the damage criteria (contd)

Damage evolution

*DAMAGE INITIATION, CRITERION=MAXPS, TOL=0.01

22e6
*DAMAGE EVOLUTION, TYPE=ENERGY, MIXED MODE BEHAVIOR=BK, POWER=1.0
www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

2870.0, 2870.0, 2870.0

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Example 1 Crack Initiation and Propagation using Cohesive Damage (4/11)

1 Define the damage criteria (contd)

Damage stabilization

*DAMAGE INITIATION, CRITERION=MAXPS, TOL=0.01

22e6
*DAMAGE EVOLUTION, TYPE=ENERGY, MIXED MODE BEHAVIOR=BK, POWER=1.0
www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

2870.0, 2870.0, 2870.0

*DAMAGE STABILIZATION
1.e-5
Coefficient of viscosity

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Example 1 Crack Initiation and Propagation using Cohesive Damage (5/11)

2 Define the enriched region

www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

Pick enriched region

Propagating crack

Specify contact interaction

(frictionless small-sliding contact only)

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Example 1 Crack Initiation and Propagation using Cohesive Damage (6/11)

2 Define the enriched region (contd)

Keyword interface

*ENRICHMENT, TYPE=PROPAGATION CRACK, NAME=CRACK-1,

ELSET=SELECTED_ELEMENTS, INTERACTION=CONTACT-1
Frictionless small-sliding contact interaction
www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

3 No initial crack definition is needed

Crack will initiate based on specified damage criteria

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Example 1 Crack Initiation and Propagation using Cohesive Damage (7/11)

4 Set analysis controls to improve convergence behavior

Set reasonable minimum and maximum increment sizes for step

Increase the number of increments for step from the default value of 100
www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

*STEP, NLGEOM=YES
*STATIC, inc=1000
0.01, 1.0, 1.0e-09, 0.01
.
.
.

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Example 1 Crack Initiation and Propagation using Cohesive Damage (8/11)

4 Set analysis controls to improve convergence behavior (contd)

Use numerical scheme applicable to discontinuous analysis

www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

*STEP, NLGEOM=YES
*STATIC, inc=10000
0.01, 1.0, 1.0e-09, 0.01
.
.
.
*CONTROLS, ANALYSIS=DISCONTINUOUS

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Example 1 Crack Initiation and Propagation using Cohesive Damage (9/11)

4 Set analysis controls to improve convergence behavior (contd)

Increase value of maximum number of attempts before abandoning increment

(increased to 20 from the default value of 5)
www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

*STEP, NLGEOM=YES
*STATIC, inc=10000
0.01, 1.0, 1.0e-09, 0.01
.
.
.
*CONTROLS, ANALYSIS=DISCONTINUOUS
*CONTROLS, PARAMETER=TIME INCREMENTATION
, , , , , , , 20

8th field

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Example 1 Crack Initiation and Propagation using Cohesive Damage (10/11)

Output requests

Request PHILSM and STATUSXFEM in addition to the usual output for static analysis

PHILSM is needed for visualizing the crack

www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

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Example 1 Crack Initiation and Propagation using Cohesive Damage (11/11)

Postprocessing

Crack isosurface (Crack_PHILSM) created and displayed automatically

Field and history quantities of interest can be plotted and animated as usual
www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

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Example 2 Low Cycle Fatigue

Same problem as in Examples 1 but subjected to cyclic distributed loading.

VCCT is used for fracture criterion

www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

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Example 3 Propagation of an Existing Crack

Model with crack subjected to mixed mode loading

Initial crack needs to be defined

Crack propagates at an angle dictated by mode mix ratio at crack tip

www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

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Example 4 Delamination and Through-thickness Crack

Model through-thickness crack propagation using XFEM and delamination using surface-based cohesive
behavior in a double cantilever beam specimen

Interlaminar crack grows initially

Through-thickness crack forms once interlaminar crack becomes long enough and the longitudinal
stress value builds up due to bending
www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

The point at which the through-thickness crack forms depends upon the relative failure stress values of
the bulk material and the interface

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Example 4 Delamination and Through-thickness Crack

This model is the same as the double cantilever beam model presented in the surface-based cohesive
behavior lecture except:

Enrichment has been added to the top and bottom beams to allow XFEM crack initiation and
propagation
www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

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Limitations of XFEM modeling

Can only use linear brick and linear/quadratic tet continuum elements.

Crack branching, interacting cracks not possible. Intended for single/few non-interacting cracks.

An element cannot be cut by more than one crack.

Frictional small-sliding contact is considered

www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

The small-sliding assumption will result in nonphysical contact behavior if the relative sliding between
the contacting surfaces is indeed large

Only enriched regions can have a material model with damage

If only a portion of the model needs to be enriched define an extra material model with no damage for
the regions not enriched

Probing field quantities on an element currently returns values only from the lower element (corresponding to
negative values of )

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Demo: Crack Growth in a Three-point Bend Specimen using XFEM

1. In this demo, we will see XFEM modeling of a three-point bend specimen

a. Create and instance a part to represent the crack geometry
b. Use the crack editor to create an enriched region and specify an initial crack.
c. Request XFEM-related output
d. Specify analysis controls to aid convergence
www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

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 3/11/2014

Modeling Fracture & Failure with Abaqus

Training Course Schedule http://www.3ds.com/simulia-training

North America Schedule Location International

Location
February 11-13, 2014 Houston, TX Schedule
March 25-27, 2014 Online / West Lafayette, February 25-27, Vlizy-Villacoublay,
IN 2014 France
Followed by Hands-on *Download the French PDF course
www.3ds.com | Dassault Systmes

Workshop on Mar. 28, overview here.

2014 March 25-27, 2014 Stockholm, Sweden
July 15-17, 2014 Online / Minneapolis April 7-9, 2014 Munich, Germany
(Eagan), MN
Followed by Hands-on April 28-30, 2014 Warrington,
Workshop on July 18, United Kingdom
2014 May 7-9, 2014 Vienna, Austria
October 7-9, 2014 Houston, TX September 15-17, Beijing, China
October 28-30, 2014 Online / Cincinnati 2014
(Mason), OH October 22-24, 2014 Munich, Germany
Followed by Hands-on October 27-29, 2014 Vienna, Austria
Workshop on Oct 31,
2014 November 3-5, 2014 Hammersmith,
United Kingdom
November 18-20, 2014 Cleveland, OH
Followed by Hands-on December 17-19, Maarssen,
Workshop on Nov. 11, 2014 Netherlands
2014

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Next steps
Register for a Training Class
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Watch for email with details

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at Rhode Island Convention Center in Providence, RI
www.3ds.com/SCC2014. Register before January 31 and save $300.

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