A partition of unity enriched dual boundary element method for accurate computations in fracture mechanics

We introduce a novel enriched Boundary Element Method (BEM) and Dual Boundary Element Method (DBEM) approach for accurate evaluation of Stress Intensity Factors (SIFs) in crack problems. The formulation makes use of the Partition of Unity Method (PUM) such that functions obtained from a priori knowledge of the solution space can be incorporated in the element formulation. An enrichment strategy is described, in which boundary integral equations formed at additional collocation points are used to provide auxiliary equations in order to accommodate the extra introduced unknowns. In addition, an efficient numerical quadrature method is outlined for the evaluation of strongly singular and hypersingular enriched boundary integrals. Finally, results are shown for mixed mode crack problems; these illustrate that the introduction of PUM enrichment provides for an improvement in accuracy of approximately one order of magnitude in comparison to the conventional unenriched DBEM. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.