Numerical propagation of dynamic cracks using X-FEM

This paper presents an application of the eXtended Finite Element Method for numerical modeling of the dynamic cracks propagation. The numerical cracks representation is adapted to the time-dependent mechanical formulation, using the Heaviside step function for completely cutted elements and the cohesive model for crack tips. In order to find the propagation parameters, a crack evolution model is proposed. The numerical implementation is achieved in new explicit FE module. A numerical example is proposed for proving the computational efficiency of this new module