Three-dimensional mixed mode analysis of a cracked body by fractal finite element method

Abstract

A semi-analytical method namely fractal finite element method is presented for the determination of stress intensity factor for the straight three-dimenisonal plane crack. Using the concept of fractal geometry, infinite many of finite elements are generated virtually around the crack border. Based on the analytical global displacement function, numerous DOFs are transformed to a small set of generalised coordinates in an expeditious way. No post-processing and special finite elements are required to develop for extracting the stress intensity factors. Examples are given to illustrate the accuracy and efficiency of the present method. Very good accuracy (with less than 3% errors) is obtained for the maximum value of SIFs for different modes.