A newly developed numerical model for simulating arbitrary displacement discontinuities is ex- tended for the case of dynamic loading. The model involves the addition of the Heaviside jump to the underlying fimte element mterpolation basis functions. A displacement jump is…
A newly developed numerical model for simulating arbitrary displacement discontinuities is ex- tended for the case of dynamic loading. The model involves the addition of the Heaviside jump to the underlying fimte element mterpolation basis functions. A displacement jump is continuous across element boundaries and the order of the displacement jump interpolation is the same as the underlying element. The finite element for- mulation for dynamic problems is developed in a consistent manner from the weak equation of motion, which leads naturally to stiffness and mass matrices which involve discontinuous terms. The model is used to simulate the propagation of cohesive cracks in concrete under impact loading. Analyses are shown to be independent of the spatial discretisation and the performance is excellent with very coarse finite element meshes. The numerical simulations of a double-notched specimen compare well with experimental results.