Sensitivity of Stress Intensity Factors with Respect to the Crack Geometry by the Scaled Boundary Finite Element Method
The sensitivity of the stress intensity factors (SIFs) with respect to the crack geometry, shape sensitivity, plays an important role in the reliability analysis of cracked structures and many other fracture mechanics applications. This paper presents a numerical technique to evaluate the shape sensitivity using the scaled boundary finite element method. It combines the finite element formulations with the boundary element discretization. The crack surface remains meshless. The variation in crack geometry is modelled by applying direct differentiation with respect to the crack geometry, without remeshing. The sensitivity of the stress modes are not required for the calculation of the sensitivity of the SIFs. A numerical example demonstrates the efficiency, accuracy and simplicity of the technique.