A new way to treat material discontinuities in the numerical manifold method

A new technique to describe the material discontinuities within the numerical manifold method framework is presented. A new concept of ‘weak-discontinuous physical covers’ is introduced. Special local approximations, which are continuous in the approximation but discontinuous in its first derivative, are tailored for weak-discontinuous physical covers. This new method takes full advantage of the partition of unity. Several typical examples are presented. Results have shown the accuracy and convenience of the proposed method in modeling material interfaces, especially composite materials with multiple holes/inclusions.

► We present a new technique to describe material discontinuities within NMM framework. ► We introduce ‘weak-discontinuous physical covers’ and customize proper local approximations for them. ► The improved NMM takes full advantage of partition of unity. ► The method is effective and efficient in modeling composite materials with multiple holes/inclusions.