Extended finite element method for power-law creep crack growth

• The extended finite element method is implemented to model the crack growth in the power-law creep materials.
• The displacement approximation is enriched near the crack tip by incorporating the asymptotic fields under creep conditions.
• The maximum principle strain criterion is used to specify the crack initiation.
• The explicit time integration scheme is employed with an automatic time stepping algorithm.

The extended finite element method (XFEM) is implemented to model the crack and crack growth behavior in the power-law creep materials. The displacement approximation is enriched near the crack tip by incorporating the asymptotic fields in power-law creep materials. The maximum principle stress criterion is used to specify the direction of crack growth. The maximum principle strain criterion is used to specify the crack initiation. The explicit time integration scheme is employed with an automatic time stepping algorithm. Several crack and crack growth examples are simulated to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Numerical results show a reasonably good agreement with the experimental results.