An adaptive stochastic multi-scale method for cohesive fracture modelling of quasi-brittle heterogeneous materials under uniaxial tension

An adaptive stochastic multi-scale method is developed for cohesive fracture modelling of quasi-brittle heterogeneous materials under uniaxial tension. In this method, a macro domain is first discretised into a number of non-overlapping meso-scale elements (MeEs) each of which containing detailed micro-scale finite element meshes. Potential discrete cracks in the MeEs are modelled by pre-inserted cohesive interface elements (CIEs). Nonlinear simulations are conducted for the MeEs to obtain the crack patterns under different boundary conditions. The macro-domain with the same number of overlapped, adaptively size-increasing MeEs are then simulated, until the potential cracks seamlessly cross the boundaries of adjacent MeEs. The resultant cracks, after being filtered by a new Bayesian inference algorithm to remove spurious cracks wherever necessary, are then integrated as CIEs into a final anisotropic macro-model for global mechanical responses. A two-dimensional example of carbon fibre reinforced polymers was modelled under two types of uniaxial tension boundaries. The developed method predicted crack patterns and load-displacement curves in excellent agreement with those from a full micro-scale simulation, but consuming considerably less computation time of the latter. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.