Dynamic fracture analysis using discrete cohesive crack method

Dynamic fracture is studied using a mesh-less discrete cohesive crack method. The method is based on partition of unity and cracks are represented by a set of crack segments. The crack segments are required to pass through the entire domain of influence of node. They are introduced when the maximum principal stress exceeds the uniaxial tensile strength. The crack segments are allowed to rotate in order to avoid too stiff system responses. The major advantage of our method is that it does not require algorithms to track the crack path.