Papers by Author: Liang Wu

Abstract: The extended finite element method (X-FEM) is reviewed and some new developments for fracture analysis of structures is presented. The X-FEM is an extension to the classical finite element method (FEM), using the concepts of partition of unity and meshless approaches. It is specifically designed to improve the performance of the conventional finite element method, while keeping the computational costs at an acceptable level, and avoiding the cumbersome remeshing of FEM in crack propagation problems. The simplicity, flexibility in handling several cracks and crack propagation patterns on a fixed mesh, and the level of accuracy with minimum additional degrees of freedom have transformed X-FEM into the most efficient numerical procedure in the arena of computational fracture mechanics.

Abstract: The cohesive crack model and the crack band model are two convenient approaches in concrete fracture analysis. They can describe in full the fracture process by the different manner: The entire fracture process zone is lumped into the crack line and is characterized in the form of a stress-displacement law which exhibits softening; or the inelastic deformations in the fracture process zone are smeared over a band of a certain width, imagined to exist in front of the main crack. The correlation of the two models is developed based on a characteristic width of crack band. The analysis shows that they can yield about the same results if the crack opening displacement in the cohesive crack model is taken as the fracturing strain that is accumulated over the width of the crack band model. Some basic problems are also discussed in finite element analysis.