Computational methods based on an energy integral in dynamic fracture

• DOI: 10.1007/bf00017970
• Publication Date: 2004-11-02T16:33:09Z
• Authors: T. Nakamura; C. F. Shih; L. B. Freund
• Keywords: J integral; Energy flux; Characterization; Fissure

Developments in the use of the crack tip energy flux integral in computational dynamic fracture mechanics over the past few years are reviewed. An expression for the crack tip energy flux in terms of near tip mechanical fields which is valid for general material response is derived. It is then demonstrated that certain useful energy integrals may be extracted from the general result by invoking the appropriate characterization of material response. Several alternative representations of energy flux in the form of integrals over some finite region around the crack tip are presented and compared with a view toward implementation in finite element simulation studies.