Comparison of finite element J-integral evaluations for the blunt crack model and the sharp crack model

Conference · Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1983

OSTI ID:6192825

Pan, Y C; Kennedy, J M

In assessing the safety of a liquid metal fast breeder reactor (LMFBR), a major concern is that of hot sodium coming into contact with either unprotected concrete or steel-lined concrete equipment cells and containment structures. An aspect of this is the potential of concrete cracking which would significantly influence the safety assessment. Concrete cracking in finite element analysis can be modeled as a blunt crack in which the crack is assumed to be uniformly distributed throughout the area of the element. A blunt crack model based on the energy release rate and the effective strength concepts which was insensitive to the element size was presented by Bazant and Cedolin. Some difficulties were encountered in incorporating their approach into a general purpose finite element code. An approach based on the J-integral to circumvent some of the difficulties was proposed by Pan, Marchertas, and Kennedy. Alternatively, cracking can also be modeled as a sharp crack where the crack surface is treated as the boundary of the finite element mesh. The sharp crack model is adopted by most researchers and its J-integral has been well established. It is desirable to establish the correlation between the J-integrals, or the energy release rates, for the blunt crack model and the sharp crack model so that data obtained from one model can be used on the other.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-31-109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 6192825
• Report Number(s): CONF-830510-3; ON: DE85005034
• Resource Relation: Conference: ASCE engineering mechanics division specialty conference, Lafayette, IN, USA, 23 May 1983; Other Information: Portions are illegible in microfiche products
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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