A coupled peridynamics–smoothed particle hydrodynamics model for fracture analysis of fluid–structure interactions

Abstract

In this paper, a numerical model that couples peridynamics (PD) with smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) is presented for fracture modeling in fluid–structure interaction (FSI) problems. PD was employed to simulate the solid structure fracture because of its ability to deal with discontinuity problems. SPH was applied to simulate the fluid behavior because of its advantages in modeling free-surface flows. A virtual particle layer was established in the fluid–structure interfacial region to ensure the force and deformation transfer between the fluid and solid phases. Validation was performed qualitatively and quantitatively through simulations of classical benchmark tests. The SPH model of the free-surface flow, the PD model of the solid structure, and the coupled PD-SPH model of the FSI were carefully verified. It was demonstrated that the results matched the experimental observations well, with a maximum error of less than 10%. The hydraulic fracture of a gravity dam and the impact of dam-break flow on a baffle were simulated as applications of the coupled PD-SPH model. The predicted crack path in the gravity dam agreed closely with the experimental observations, with a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.9983. A preliminary extension of the proposed PD-SPH model to three dimensions is also presented, and its performance was evaluated. The results indicate that the coupled model is accurate in modeling the solid fracture process in FSI problems.