Adjoint design sensitivity analysis of dynamic crack propagation using peridynamic theory

Based on the peridynamics of the reformulated continuum theory, an adjoint design sensitivity analysis (DSA) method is developed for the solution of dynamic crack propagation problems using the explicit scheme of time integration. Non-shape DSA problems are considered for the dynamic crack propagation including the successive branching of cracks. The adjoint variable method is generally suitable for path-independent problems but employed in this bond-based peridynamics since its path is readily available. Since both original and adjoint systems possess time-reversal symmetry, the trajectories of systems are symmetric about the u-axis. We take advantage of the time-reversal symmetry for the efficient and concurrent computation of original and adjoint systems. Also, to improve the numerical efficiency of large scale problems, a parallel computation scheme is employed using a binary space decomposition method. The accuracy of analytical design sensitivity is verified by comparing it with the finite difference one. The finite difference method is susceptible to the amount of design perturbations and could result in inaccurate design sensitivity for highly nonlinear peridynamics problems with respect to the design. It is demonstrated that the peridynamic adjoint sensitivity involving history-dependent variables can be accurate only if the path of the adjoint response analysis is identical to that of the original response.