In many material systems, man-made or natural, we have an incomplete knowledge of geometric or material properties, which leads to uncertainty in predicting their performance under dynamic loading. Given the uncertainty and a high degree of spatial variability in properties of materials subjected to impact, a stochastic theory of continuum mechanics would be useful for modeling dynamic response of such systems. Peridynamic theory is such a theory. It is formulated as an integro- differential equation that does not employ spatial derivatives, and provides for a consistent formulation of both deformation and failure of materials. We discuss an approach to stochastic peridynamic theory and illustrate the formulation with examples of impact loading of geological materials with uncorrelated or correlated material properties. We examine wave propagation and damage to the material. The most salient feature is the absence of spallation, referred to as disorder toughness, which generalizes similar results from earlier quasi-static damage mechanics. Acknowledgements This research was made possible by the support from DTRA grant HDTRA1-08-10-BRCWM. I thank Dr. Martin Ostoja-Starzewski for introducing me to the mechanics of random materials and collaborating with me throughout and after this DTRA project.
Nishawala, Vinesh V.; Ostoja-Starzewski, Martin; Leamy, Michael J.; Demmie, Paul N.
Peridynamics is a non-local continuum mechanics formulation that can handle spatial discontinuities as the governing equations are integro-differential equations which do not involve gradients such as strains and deformation rates. This paper employs bond-based peridynamics. Cellular Automata is a local computational method which, in its rectangular variant on interior domains, is mathematically equivalent to the central difference finite difference method. However, cellular automata does not require the derivation of the governing partial differential equations and provides for common boundary conditions based on physical reasoning. Both methodologies are used to solve a half-space subjected to a normal load, known as Lamb's Problem. The results are compared with theoretical solution from classical elasticity and experimental results. This paper is used to validate our implementation of these methods.
The peridynamic theory of solid mechanics provides a natural framework for modeling constitutive response and simulating dynamic crack propagation, pervasive damage, and fragmentation. In the case of a fragmenting body, the principal quantities of interest include the number of fragments, and the masses and velocities of the fragments. We present a method for identifying individual fragments in a peridynamic simulation. We restrict ourselves to the meshfree approach of Silling and Askari, in which nodal volumes are used to discretize the computational domain. Nodal volumes, which are connected by peridynamic bonds, may separate as a result of material damage and form groups that represent fragments. Nodes within each fragment have similar velocities and their collective motion resembles that of a rigid body. The identification of fragments is achieved through inspection of the peridynamic bonds, established at the onset of the simulation, and the evolving damage value associated with each bond. An iterative approach allows for the identification of isolated groups of nodal volumes by traversing the network of bonds present in a body. The process of identifying fragments may be carried out at specified times during the simulation, revealing the progression of damage and the creation of fragments. Incorporating the fragment identification algorithm directly within the simulation code avoids the need to write bond data to disk, which is often prohibitively expensive. Results are recorded using fragment identification numbers. The identification number for each fragment is stored at each node within the fragment and written to disk, allowing for any number of post-processing operations, for example the construction of cumulative distribution functions for quantities of interest. Care is taken with regard to very small clusters of isolated nodes, including individual nodes for which all bonds have failed. Small clusters of nodes may be treated as tiny fragments, or may be omitted from the fragment identification process. The fragment identification algorithm is demonstrated using the Sierra/SolidMechanics analysis code. It is applied to a simulation of pervasive damage resulting from a spherical projectile impacting a brittle disk, and to a simulation of fragmentation of an expanding ductile ring.