3D Lattice Fracture Model: Theory and Computer Implementation

The lattice fracture model is presented in this paper, which is intended to simulate the fracture processes in multiphase materials to obtain the mechanical behavior in terms of load-displacement diagram and the cracks propagation. The basic procedures of lattice fracture analysis is that imposing a prescribed displacement on a lattice structure, finding the critical lattice element with the highest stress/strength ratio, removing it from the system and repeating until the system fails globally. One of the challenges in computer implementation of 3D lattice fracture model is the huge demand for computer memory. Matrix free technique is adopted to solve this problem.