Static and dynamic fracture analysis of 3D cracked orthotropic shells using XFEM method

摘要

In this study, cracked shell-type structures with 3D geometries made of orthotropic materials are considered. Extended Finite Element Method (XFEM) is typically used for analysis of 2D orthotropic plates; however, the available commercial FEM packages like ABAQUS do not offer a solution for cracked orthotropic elements. As a result, authors have developed a programming code in MATLAB software, which is capable of solving 3D orthotropic structures with shell elements. Examples of 2D and 3D shell element problems with different crack angles and fibre orientations are investigated to validate the accuracy of the evaluated stress intensity factors under static and dynamic loading conditions. Parametric studies are also performed to observe the fracture behaviour of a pipe with different crack orientations at different fibre directions in composites.