Mini-symposium title 

5-4 – Non-local Models for Damage and Fracture           

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Organisers 

Ugo Galvanetto (University of Padua), Erkan Oterkus (University of Strathclyde) 

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Mini-symposium description 

Full description of damage and fracture mechanisms in structural materials is still a challenge. In spite of a research effort which has lasted for decades, reliable computational tools are not yet available. This is particularly true if multiphysics phenomena are involved. Computational methods based on classical local continuum mechanics, such as FEM, have been equipped with different tools including virtual crack closure technique, cohesive zone model, interface elements, extended finite element method, phase field theory... Although all these techniques have produced a rich literature and interesting results, there are various concerns on their applicability and versatility. Nonlocal models have been proposed to overcome the issues of FEM for damage and fracture description. Nonlocal theories, based on gradient-dependent or integral-type models, offer alternative approaches that avoid difficulties arising in classical local theories. Computational implementations of nonlocal models, however, are more expensive than those based on the use of classical approaches. Furthermore, simulations based on nonlocal models often pose a difficulty in the imposition of boundary conditions. Coupling strategies that bridge local and nonlocal models seem to provide a solution to both the computational expense and the boundary treatment of nonlocal models. 

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The purpose of this minisymposium is to stimulate an exchange of ideas among researchers working on various types of non-local and non-conventional damage and fracture models including, among others, the following topics: 

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1. Peridynamics

2. Local/nonlocal coupling methods 

3. Numerical techniques, discretization schemes, and software implementation for nonlocal models 

4. Meshfree and particle methods 

5. Application of boundary conditions in non-local methods 

6. Mathematical and numerical analysis of nonlocal models and multiscale methods 

7. Material failure and damage 

8. Engineering applications in which nonlocal methods are useful 

9. Nonlocal elasticity 

10. Nonlocal damage, nonlocal plasticity models 

11. Nonlocal multiphysic approaches 

12. Large 3D applications 

13. Nonlocal structural theories (beams, shells …) 

14. Nonlocal modelling of corrosion 

  

Papers on topics not included in the list, but in line with the theme of the symposium, are also welcome. 

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