A continuous-discontinuous model to introduce fluid pressure in a crack.

Abstract

Cracking of quasi-brittle materials (such as concrete, rocks,) may be modelled by means of continuous, discontinuous or continuous-discontinuous models. The latter combine a continuous damage model for the initial stages of degradation with a discontinuous model later on. This switching from a smeared to an explicit representation of the crack is useful in many applications, to model the interaction between the cracked structure and a fluid inside the crack. The capabilities of a continuous-discontinuous model to simulate hydraulic fracture are explored in this work.