An approach for dynamic analysis of stationary cracks using XFEM

A numerical implementation of the eXtended Finite Element Method (XFEM) is presented. The proposed approach solves the system of discrete equations using an explicit integration scheme and it is capable of addressing dynamic and static fracture mechanics problems. Special attention to the mass matrix construction is required in order to avoid instability issues such a null stable time increment. Hence, different mass lumping strategies are adopted for enriched elements. The in-house implementation of this approach, so-called X in-house FE platform called MULE. Numerical tests demonstrate that the proposed approach is able to provide an accurate calculation of static and dynamic stress intensity factors (SIFs) for different geometries and loading scenarios. Finally, in order to extend our point of view, an experimental analysis of a 10◦ off-axis carbon fibre laminate is carried out using Digital Image Correlation (DIC).