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The singularity at the crack tip is not represented properly, even with a
very fine mesh. This has been shown to pollute the whole solution to
some degree.
a
This estimate shows less oscillation when extrapolated to
the crack tip, as errors in the solution affect the
displacements less than the stresses or strains.
Estimation of G from work or energy
Consider a 2D plane strain model of a crack, implied to be of unit
thickness.
Keeping the load P opening a crack constant, half the work done is
stored as elastic strain energy, and the other half grows the crack.
We find the displacement between the loading points, then
extend the crack by a by disconnecting a pair of elements at the
crack tip.
We again find this displacement giving 2
P(2 - 1) is the work done. P(2 - 1) /(2a) estimates GI which can
be converted to KI
Doing this with a half model, the crack is grown by removing a
restraint, and the work by crack area P(2 - 1)/a does not need to
be halved. P
a
Crack-tip elements
Crack-tip elements are designed to capture a singularity, like the
1/r function in the 2D plane strain solution for the stress field in
a semi-infinite plate.
L/4
3 nodes
superimposed
Many packages can do the elastoplastic analysis, and predict the size
of the plastic zone at the crack tip, but the derivatives of displacement
needed to estimate J may not be available outputs (eg ux/y).