An adaptive multiscale method for crack propagation and crack?coalescence

This work presents a new multiscale technique for the efficient simulation of crack propagation and crack coalescence of macrocracks and microcracks. The fully adaptive multiscale method is able to capture localization effect mesh independently. By modeling macrocracks and microcracks, the extended finite element method offers an accurate solution and captures cracks and their propagation without changing the mesh topology. Propagating and coaliting cracks of different length scales can therefore be easily modeled and updated during the computation process. Hence, the presented method is an efficient and accurate option for modeling cracks of different length scales. This is demonstrated in several numerical examples showing the interaction of microcracks and macrocracks. Copyright (c)?2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.