Research
About this project
We develop phase-field-based continuum models for the finite-element simulation of fracturing in elastic and inelastic materials. One major challenge resides in the efficient numerical solution of the discrete governing equations, which turn out to be bi-convex in nature. We approach this problem by using operator splits and multigrid solvers.
The elastic and elastic-plastic phase-field models are readily extendable to hydraulic problems by consideration of Darcy-Biot-type flow and rigorous exploitation of underlying variational principles.