Combined peridynamic and finite element analyses for failure prediction in periodic and partially periodic perforated structures

This study presents an approach for predicting the displacement and stress fields in fully-periodic or partially-periodic perforated structures. The distance between the cells of perforation can be thick or thin with or without an outer frame. Employing the concepts from micromechanics and mechanics of structural genome, a perforated structure can be modeled as an imperforated structure by employing traditional finite elements with effective material properties. The effective material property matrix is determined by applying the peridynamic unit cell (PDUC) model to the repeating perforation (cell). The prediction of stress field and failure process in the unit cell referred to as "dehomogenization' is achieved by constructing its PD model subjected to displacement constraints from the analysis of imperforated structure. Both the PD and FE analyses are performed by employing only the built-in elements of a commercial finite element software, ANSYS. After demonstrating the computational framework and verifying the predictions, a complex partially-perforated circular glass filter is modeled for the stress field and failure characteristics. Although the glass filters are commonly two-dimensional in nature, the present approach is suitable for three-dimensional analysis of structures with a periodic architecture.