Failure modelling in finite element analyses: Element erosion with crack-tip enhancement

A method to better handle fracture using element erosion in finite element analyses is proposed. It is assumed that the crack-tip is blunt and that the solution in the vicinity of the crack-tip is separable when described in local polar co-ordinates. The numerical solution is enhanced by scaling strain rates at integration points to better match the state at the crack-tip. This material specific scaling function is empirically determined for modus I steady-state propagation and is applied to two problems. The results show that the method reduces mesh dependency such that the chosen fracture energy can be better matched for different element sizes.