Generalized finite element method in nonlinear fracture and damage mechanics

• Grant number: 07/05549-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: March 03, 2008
• End date: June 28, 2008
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Civil Engineering - Structural Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Sergio Persival Baroncini Proenca
• Grantee: Sergio Persival Baroncini Proenca
• Host Investigator: Carlos Armando Duarte
• Host Institution: Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, United States

Abstract

Damage and crack evolution processes are among the cause of the so-called physical nonlinear response of materials. Fatigue failure is a possible consequence of these phenomena and it needs to be prevented when designing structural components such as columns in bridges or ribs and spars in airplane wings. This project is therefore linked to one among the world wide broad core research activities presently going in Structural Engineering. The main focus is the development, application and validation of a non-conventional numerical formulation aiming at the understanding and modeling of nonlinear behaviors of structures. The numerical formulation to be explored in this project (the Generalized Finite Element Method) is addressed as non-conventional because it represents an improvement over the conventional FEM, thus providing more flexibility and generality when simulating both the material and structural nonlinear behaviors. Actually, the investment in this line of research is justified by the limitations of the conventional nonlinear analysis eventually requiring expensive time consuming strategies. That is precisely the case when computations involve simulations of damage and fracture propagation, especially if a three-dimensional approach is considered. (AU)