SOLVING STRESS INTENSITY FACTORS OF MULTIPLE CRACKS BY USING A MODIFIED INTRINSIC BASIS ENRICHED MESHLESS METHOD

Stress intensity factors of multiple cracks were calculated by using a modified intrinsic basis enriched element-free Galerkin method. The modification was based on the concept of characteristic distance and incorporated the interaction of neighboring cracks. Linear discrete system equations were obtained by applying the variational principle. The mixed-mode stress intensity factors were solved by the interaction integral method. Three examples were tested under plane stress conditions. The results from the modified intrinsic basis enriched meshless method were compared with those obtained by other numerical methods. It is found that the proposed method deals with multiple crack problems easily and effectively, and achieves high levels of accuracy without increasing the number of nodes or degrees of freedom.