Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
779169 International Journal of Impact Engineering 2016 16 Pages PDF
Abstract

The main objective of this paper is to exploit an efficient and a simplified extended finite element shell formulation for prediction of ductile fracture and crack branching of thin-walled aluminum structures subjected to impact loading. In order to characterize an arbitrary crack initiation, propagation and brunching, a phantom paired shell element approach is further developed and implemented into Abaqus' explicit solver via its user defined element (VUEL). The energy dissipation due to failure is captured by a cohesive force along the crack interface when its accumulative plastic strain reaches a critical value. A numerical technique for modeling out-of-plane crack branching phenomena is also developed by activating the phantom nodes and re-grouping the element connectivity. Four numerical examples are used to demonstrate the applicability and accuracy of the extended shell element approach for ductile failure prediction of an indentation test, a multi-bay stiffened panel with crack branching, an explosively loaded plate, and a cylinder subjected to impulsive loading.

Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Engineering Mechanical Engineering
Authors
, , , ,