A GENERALIZED FINITE ELEMENT METHOD FOR DISCRETE THIN FIBRES EMBEDDED IN A CONTINUUM

摘要

In this contribution we present a partition of unity based approach to model discrete fibres embedded in a matrix material without discretization of the fibres. For that purpose, the fibres are superimposed on a background mesh. Fibres are incorporated into the model by enriching the displacement field. We develop an element that incorporates fibre material characteristics, geometrical fibre position, bonding between fibre and matrix and matrix material behaviour. For the constitutive behaviour of the matrix simple fracture energy regularised isotropic damage with an exponential softening law is used. The behaviour of the fibre-matrix bond follows a non-linear relation. The performance of the approach and the influence of different numerical and material parameters are investigated.