Numerical simulation of damage and fracture in heterogeneous rocks

Different numerical methods of modelling crack initiation and propagation in heterogeneous materials (cohesive surface and cohesive zone models, computational cell approach, hybrid fracture/damage approach), their advantages and disadvantages are discussed. The damage and crack evolution in a heterogeneous (two-phase) rock is simulated numerically with the use of the finite element method and the element elimination technique for different arrangements of the brittle inclusions. The crack deviations at layers from brittle inclusions is observed in the numerical simulations.