Analysis of the failure process by using the Lattice Discrete Element Method in the Abaqus environment

In the present work, a version of the Lattice Discrete Element Method (LDEM), implemented in the Abaqus/Explicit software, is used to analyze damage processes in materials susceptible to fracture and fragmentation. The implementation of standard LDEM in the Abaqus/Explicit environment allows solving problems that would demand a high computing effort if simulated with the standard LDEM version which is written in Fortran. This implementation also allows combining the Finite Element Method (FEM) with the LDEM which is referred to as hybrid approach in this work. According to such a hybrid approach, the region of the body where fracture or fragmentation is expected will be modeled by using LDEM, whereas the conventional FEM model is used elsewhere. The verification of the proposed approach is performed by considering three different problems available in the literature. The results obtained with the LDEM implemented in Abaqus/Explicit environment are coherent when compared with the corresponding results available in the literature, in this way the potentiality of the present approach is verified. Then the implementation here presented is established as a promising tool to solve wide range of problems, in the context of projects and research.