17/04/2020 XFEM Analysis in ABAQUS – Simplified Finite Elements

Simplified Finite Elements

XFEM Analysis in ABAQUS

A simple explanation of XFEM has been given in the section What is XFEM
(h ps://simplifiedfem.wordpress.com/what-is-xfem/). For a complete mathematical understanding of
how XFEM works, check out the references mentioned at the end of this article. In this tutorial I will
show a Single Edge Notched Beam (SENB) specimen or commonly referred to as a 3-point Bending
specimen undergoing deformation. The deformation produces a crack as shown in figure 1.

(h ps://simplifiedfem.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/status.png)
Figure 1: SENB specimen – Original and Deformed configurations

The units used in this analysis are N,mm,tonne

Before watching the video, it would be helpful to comment on some of the things shows in this video

Material Definition

Some Tin Alloy

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17/04/2020 XFEM Analysis in ABAQUS – Simplified Finite Elements

Contact Definition

Surface to surface formulation

Field Outputs

STATUSXFEM – is a scalar variable that shows the extent of damage or “cracking” inside an element. For
a fully cracked element the value of this variable is 1. Similarly an element without any crack inside it
has a value of 0. Value between 0 and 1 suggest partial damage or crack

PHILSM, PSILSM –These functions are used to define/show the location of crack inside a body.

ELDMD – Damage dissipation energy. A plot of ELDMD is shown in the video. The value of ELDMD in
the plot is more than the energy value given in the material definition. This is because ELDMD is
computed by dividing the damage energy dissipated by the element with the element cracked area.

ELDMD = Damage dissipation energy / Element cracked surface area

Tutorial Video

XFEM simulation of SENB in ABAQUS (3-Point Bending Sp…

Sp…

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References

Simulia, „Defining the constitutive response of cohesive elements using a traction-separation

description,“ in Abaqus Documentation, Simulia, 2014

Simulia, „Modeling discontinuities as an enriched feature using the extended finite element method,“ in
Abaqus Documentation.

Y. Abdelaziz und A. Hamouine, „A survey of the extended finite element“, Computers & Structures, Bd.
86, pp. 1141-1151, 2008.

1 Comment

One thought on “XFEM Analysis in ABAQUS ”

1.
samadhan
March 3, 2016 at 6:46 am • Reply
Nice Explanation…..

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