Verification of the advantages of non-conforming adaptive meshing for digital volume correlation during crack propagation

• Grant number: 24/11244-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: September 01, 2024
• End date: August 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Mechanical Engineering - Mechanics of Solids
• Principal Investigator: Vinicius Fiocco Sciuti
• Grantee: Vinícius Reyes Kury
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Exatas e de Tecnologia (CCET). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The Digital Volume Correlation (DVC) is an advanced technique for processing reconstructed volumes (3D images) from computed tomography scans, which can be used to study crack propagation in composite materials. However, the global approach of DVC, which utilizes a finite element mesh to discretize volumes, is computationally expensive due to the three-dimensional nature of the data, limiting its practical applications. This project investigates the advantages of adaptive meshing around the crack region, where the size of elements is reduced in the area requiring higher resolution while distant elements remain larger, aiming to decrease the computational cost. Using Correli 3.0 software, models of Uniform Mesh (UM) and non-conforming Adapted Mesh (AM) reconnected via the Master-Slave approach will be compared. The non-conforming AM, containing hanging nodes, aims to concentrate mesh size refinement around the crack region. This methodology will be applied to volumes obtained by tomography of an alumina-zirconia refractory subjected to fracture testing using the wedge splitting test. It is expected that AM will significantly reduce processing time without compromising the accuracy of the analysis, making DVC more accessible for crack propagation studies.