3D MODELLING OF BRITTLE FRACTURE IN HETEROGENEOUS ROCKS

Abstract

Owing to the vast developments in computer science and technologies, recent years have seen a renewal of interest in the computational modelling of material failure in meso-macro scale. The multi-scale capability of the method is recognized as a promising tool in attacking formidable problems in fracture mechanics for heterogeneous media, such as rock, concrete or ceramic, and, indeed, has been successfully applied to the various engineering problems for industrial materials. These models have established themselves as a powerful and realistic alternative to the non-local continuum models for softening damage and fracturing. However, the quantitative macro response (such as stress–strain) from most of the current meso-mechanical models is not close enough to the behaviour of real materials. One reason for this shortcoming is that most of these models are two-dimensional. In this paper, a three-dimensional material failure process analysis model, MFPA3 D, is proposed. The failure behaviour of brittle materials can be simulated by this three-dimensional model. The model can realistically simulate the inelastic triaxial behaviour, strength limits, and post-peak response for both tension and compression. The capabilities of the MFPA3 D model to generate a wide range of damage morphologies are examined in this paper.