Skip to main content

Simulation of multicracks in Abaqus using cohesive elements

Submitted by mgchavez77 on

Hi all,

 I'm working in a model in Abaqus that simulate the propagation of a crack which is intersected by another preexisting crack. I’m using cohesive elements to predefine the paths of the cracks. I have a problem in the intersection of the cracks because I'm using pressure cohesive elements, 4-nodes and 2-pressure nodes per element. That means that I'd need an element with 4-nodes and 4-pressure nodes in the intersection, element that Abaqus doesn't have. I'll appreciate any suggestion about how I could fix this. I'm interested to simulate the cases where the first crack will propagate or be arrested by the second one depending of the cohesive parameters.

thanks in advance