Finite element simulation of dynamic fracture and fragmentation of glass rods Original Research Article

The aim of this communication is to provide further illustration of the feasibility of simulating fragmentation explicitly, crack by crack. Cracks are allowed to form and propagate along element boundaries in accordance with a tension-shear cohesive-law model. No topological restrictions are imposed on the cracks, which may nucleate at the surface or in the interior, branch, and link up to form fragments. As the fragments scatter, the complex collisions which they undergo and the attendant frictional interactions are also resolved explicitly by recourse to a contact algorithm. We present a new model of radial cracking which permits the calculation of normal impact to proceed in an axisymmetric mode, without artificially constraining fragment rotation within meridional planes. The scope and versatility of the approach is demonstrated by simulating the propagation of failure waves in glass rods subjected to impact. Key aspects of the observational evidence, such as the failure wave speeds, are correctly predicted by the simulations.