Three-dimensional simulations of tensile cracks in geomaterials by coupling meshless and finite element method

Summary Failure in geotechnical engineering is often related to tension-induced cracking in geomaterials. In this paper, a coupled meshless method and FEM is developed to analyze the problem of three-dimensional cracking. The radial point interpolation method (RPIM) is used to model cracks in the smeared crack framework with an isotropic damage model. The identification of the meshless region is based on the stress state computed by FEM, and the adaptive coupling of RPIM and FEM is achieved by a direct algorithm. Mesh-bias dependency, which poses difficulties in FEM-based cracking simulations, is circumvented by a crack tracking algorithm. The performance of our scheme is demonstrated by two numerical examples, that is, the four-point bending test on concrete beam and the surface cracks caused by tunnel excavation. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.