A computational study of the dynamic propagation of two offset cracks using the phase field method

The study of the propagation of multiple cracks is essential to modeling and predicting structural integrity. The interaction between two cracks depends on a number of factors such as the domain geometry, the relative crack sizes and the separation between the two crack tips. In this paper, we study the interaction between two dynamically propagating cracks. We use the phase field method to track the crack paths, since this method can handle complex crack behavior such as crack branching, without any ad hoc criteria for crack evolution. The results from our dynamic simulations indicate that, unlike crack interaction under quasi-static or fatigue loading, the presence of another crack does not accelerate crack propagation when dynamic loads are applied. However, some similarities in the crack topologies are observed for both quasi-static and dynamic loading.