Stress-based nonlocal damage model

Progressive microcracking in brittle or quasi-brittle materials, as described by damage models, presents a softening behavior that in turn requires the use of regularization methods in order to maintain objective results. Such regularization methods, which describe interactions between points, provide some general properties (including objectivity and the non-alteration of a uniform field) as well as drawbacks (damage initiation, free boundary). A modification of the nonlocal integral regularization method that takes the stress state into account is proposed in this contribution. The orientation and intensity of nonlocal interactions are modified in accordance with the stress state. The fundamental framework of the original nonlocal method has been retained, making it possible to maintain the method's advantages. The modification is introduced through the weight function, which in this modified version depends not only on the distance between two points (as for the original model) but also on the stress state at the remote point. The efficiency of this novel approach is illustrated using several examples. The proposed modification improves the numerical solution of problems observed in numerical simulations involving regularization techniques. Damage initiation and propagation in mode I as well as shear band formation are analyzed herein. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.