Modeling multicrack propagation by the fast multipole symmetric Galerkin BEM

Abstract The Fast Multipole Method coupled with the Symmetric Galerkin BEM is employed in this work to simulate fatigue crack growth. The resulted crack propagation code is accelerated with a fast matrix update, a parallel implementation and a sparse matrix format. By using multiple nodes, this code accommodates also multiple surface-breaking cracks. The numerical tests presented herein allow the propagation of multiple cracks in single or multilayer domains.