Isogeometric Analysis Based Finite Element Approach for Ductile Failure Prediction of the Second Sandia Fracture Challenge Problem

It is a great challenge to perform an accurate and efficient ductile failure prediction of an aerospace structural component with multiple stress concentrators resulting from geometric discontinuities, fillers, or holes. The fidelity of a finite element analysis depends strongly on the quality of mesh construction for accurate representation of the component geometry. In order to create a finite element model from CAD geometry directly without data conversion, an isogeometric analysis toolkit for Abaqus (IGAFA) has been developed by integrating existing computer aided design (CAD) software with a customized Abaqus toolkit using a volumetric T-spline based IGA element for Abaqus. Under this study, we have augmented the existing IGAFA toolkit for Abaqus by implementing the Hill's plasticity model to capture the competition of tensile and shear driven ductile failure mechanisms. The capability of using IGAFA for ductile failure prediction is demonstrated via its application to the failure prediction of the recent second Sandia Fracture Challenge (SFC2).