Investigation of crack propagation within solid structures exposed to dynamic loading and impact using the truss-like discrete element method

对于航空航天工程、材料科学、结构工程和地球物理等许多学科来说，了解材料中的断裂和裂纹是至关重要的。快速而准确的计算机模拟真实三维结构中的裂纹扩展将是一个有价值的工具，使工程师能够更详细地探索断裂过程，并更好地了解导致结构失效的因素。本研究旨在创建一个新的程序，利用类似桁架的离散元模型(DEM)方法来进一步研究这一问题。该程序将从CAD模型导入的结构离散为一组2D元素，允许用户创建所需的加载方案。这是一种旨在减少传统有限元分析(FEA)方法所需计算资源的前沿方法。该程序的性能将与相同的有限元模型进行比较，并旨在通过等效实验进行验证。

Understanding how fractures and cracks develop in materials is crucial to many disciplines, e.g. aerospace engineering, materials sciences, structural engineering and geophysics. Fast and accurate computer simulation of crack propagation within realistic 3D structures would be a valuable tool to allow engineers to explore the fracture process in greater detail and yield a greater understanding of the factors that lead to the demise of a structure.This research aims to create a new program that utilizes the truss-like Discrete Element Model (DEM) method to investigate this problem further. The program will discretize structures imported from a CAD model into an array of 2D elements that allow the user to create desired loading scenarios. It is a cutting-edge approach that aims to reduce the computational resource required by the conventional Finite Element Analysis (FEA) method. The performance of the program will be compared with an identical FEA model and aim to be validated against an equivalent experiment.