A zero-thickness mortar / Interface formulation with application to fracture mechanics

Abstract

A zero-thickness mortar/interface element formulation is briefly described and demonstrated. This element may be considered as an extension of traditional zero-thickness interface element, in order to represent material interfaces located in between subdomains with non-matching FE meshes. In the context of small strain analysis, these elements may be equipped with the same type of constitutive laws as traditional interface elements. Therefore, if friction or fracture-mechanics-based laws are adopted, mortar/interface elements may be used to represent frictional sliding or cracking following the lines (surfaces) along which they have been pre-inserted. Two basic verification examples of this type are presented, showing that the model can correctly represent uniform states of stress and deformation when connecting unmatched mesh subdomains.