Fracture Analysis of 3D Cracked Orthotropic Shells with Extended Finite Element Method

In this study shell type structures with 3D geometries made of orthotropic materials containing through the thickness cracks are considered. XFEM has been previously utilized for just 2D orthotropic planes andthe available commercial FEM packages likeABAQUS do not support cracked orthotropic shell elements to be solved with XFEM method. Authors prepared a programming code in MATLAB softwarewhich can model 3D orthotropic structures with shellelements. Crack-tip enrichment functions based onanalytical solution of orthotropic cracked plates are used besides Heaviside enrichment functions, toconsider discontinuities. Examples of 2D and 3D shellelement problems with different crack angles and fiber orientations are investigated to validate results in mixed-mode fracture conditions. Parametric studiesare performed to observe the fracture behavior of a pipe with different orientations of the crack and also for different directions of the fiber composites

Keywords:

Orthotropic Cracked Shell , XFEM Method , Fracture Analysis