The failure of a component caused by crack propagation usually leads to disastrous consequences. Therefore, the evaluation of components by means of fracture mechanical methods is an important subdiscipline of constructional engineering. Also, the understanding of three-dimensional crack propagation in microstructured materials is a big challenge. Numerical methods based on the theory of configurational forces are used. Alongside static and dynamic situations, inelastic material behavior is considered.
Further information
- Kuhn, C., and Müller, R. (2010). A continuum phase field model for fracture. Egineering Fracture Mechanics, 77 (18), 3625-3634, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfracmech.2010.08.009.
- Schlüter, A., Willenbücher, A., Kuhn, C., and Müller, R. (2014). Phase field approximation of dynaic brittle fracture. Continuum Mechanics, 54 (5), 1141-1161, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00466-014-1045-x.
- Firscher, F. D., Predan, J., Müller, R., and Kolednik, O. (2014). On problems with the determination of the fracture resistance for materials with spatial variations of the Young's modulus. International Journal of Fracture, 190 (1-2), 23-38, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10704-014-9972-2.
- Müller, R., Kolling, S. T., and Gross, D. (2002). On configurational forces in the context of the finite element method. International Journal of Nuermical Methods in Egineering, 53 (7), 1557-1574, https://doi.org/10.1002/nme.351.