THE APPLICATIONS OF 2D ELASTOPLASTIC STOCHASTIC FINITE-ELEMENT METHODIN THE FIELD OF FRACTURE-MECHANICS

In this paper the stochastic finite element method (SFEM) is applied t o the field of fracture mechanics and cracked structures are analysed by using an elasto-plastic methodology. The main random variables cons idered are Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio and the crack size. The fo rmulae of the mean and variance value of the J-integral for elasto-pla stic deformation are discussed and an effective method for the probabi listic safety assessment of cracked structures is given. Some elasto-p lastic problems are solved by this method, and numerical examples demo nstrate that this method is appropriate for engineering problems and t hat the related computer program developed in this paper has sufficien t precision. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.