A finite element method for crack growth without remeshing

An improvement of a new technique for modelling cracks in the finite elemen t framework is presented. A standard displacement-based approximation is en riched near a crack by incorporating both discontinuous fields and the near tip asymptotic fields through a partition of unity method. A methodology t hat constructs the enriched approximation from the interaction of the crack geometry with the mesh is developed. This technique allows the entire crac k to be represented independently of the mesh, and so remeshing is not nece ssary to model crack growth. Numerical experiments are provided to demonstr ate the utility and robustness of the proposed technique. Copyright (C) 199 9 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.