Finite-element modelling of dynamic cracking in wide plates

Abstract A nonlinear plane strain/stress dynamic-transient finite-element program, using different time-stepping procedures, has been modified to allow for through-thickness crack propagation along a plane of symmetry. The program has been tested exhaustively against previously published examples of dynamic cracking, and then used to model the dynamic fracture of some wide-plate tests in progress at the Welding Institute, U.K. Some preliminary results of this work are presented.