Numerical studies of end effect on crack propagation behavior of brittle specimen containing pre-existing crack under uniaxial compression

In this paper, a Material Failure Process Analysis code (MFPA(2D)) was employed to investigate the interaction of end effect zone of specimen with the wing crack propagation inside the brittle specimen containing pre-existing flaws under uniaxial compression comparing with the experimental results. The numerical results show that the shorter the distance between the pre-existing flaw and the specimen's end, the slower the crack propagation process and the shorter wing propagation length is, and vice versa. In addition, the end effect zone was also influenced by the wing crack propagation.