Spacetime simulation of dynamic fracture with crack closure and frictional sliding

Abstract We combine the asynchronous spacetime discontinuous Galerkin (aSDG) method, an interfacial-damage fracture model, and a dynamic contact model to simulate dynamic fracture and crack closure in brittle materials. The contact model enforces specialized Riemann solutions for bonded, separation, slip and stick conditions while preserving elastodynamic characteristic structure across fracture interfaces. Powerful adaptive spacetime meshing tracks dynamic evolution of fracture-surface networks and captures moving solution features. We present numerical examples to demonstrate the model’s ability to reveal fine details of fracture response in problems that range from dynamic crack initiation, growth, closure, and arrest along a pre-defined planar path to fragmentation of rock by an explosively loaded wellbore with stochastic nucleation, free propagation, and coalescence of fracture surfaces.