CRACK-PROPAGATION BY ELEMENT-FREE GALERKIN METHODS

Element free Galerkin methods (EFG) are gridless methods for solving partial differential equations which employ moving least square interpolants for the trial and test functions. EFG methods require only nodes and a description of the external and internal boundaries and interfaces of the model; no dement connectivity is needed. The implementation of EFG to arbitrary crack growth in static problems such as fatigue is described. Numerical examples show that accurate stress intensity factors can be obtained by this method without any enrichment of the displacement field by a near crack tip singularity and that crack growth can be easily modeled since it requires almost no remeshing.