Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Hotwani Vishal
and
Ashok V. Kumar*
1
INDEX
I. ABSTRACT.
II. INTRODUCTION.
IV. BLENDING.
VIII. SUMMARY.
IX. REFRENCES.
2
ABSTRACT
This report deals with implementation of mesh independent extended finite element method
method (IBM). Attention has been focused on utilizing current technique available to obtain
stress intensity factor (SIF) directly without any need for post processing of output variables as
practiced in early stages. A novel approach has been devised to avoid formation of unwelcomed
blending elements in the model, existence of which was inevitable by previous approaches. Also
ramped step enrichment for strong discontinuities is discussed which avoids formation of any
blending elements for step enrichment in case of an unshifted approximation. This new method
not only avoids labor of identify blending elements from implementation point of view but it also
reduces the size of global stiffness matrix hence saving computational effort. Shifting of
and improve performance of method. This paper explores application of IBM as a replacement to
shifting.
3
INTRODUCTION
Finite element analysis is finding application in almost all branches of engineering. Its diverse
application field has led to sophistication of method and ramifications focusing on a particular
set of problems. XFEM (extended finite element analysis) [6] is one such technique which
focuses on capturing weak and strong discontinuities in the solution field. Early approaches
involved use of polynomials as test functions but it required attention towards mesh refinement
for obtaining reasonable results. Improving mesh density has been termed as h-version while
using of higher order polynomials for test functions has been names p-version. J Fish[14,15]
tried to capture local phenomenon of high gradient in strain field by using technique names as s-
version. A similar attempt was made by J Fish and Belytscko[16] in which a sub domain of
interest with high gradient had a spectral approximation, and this corresponding mesh was
overlaid on regular finite element mesh. A more recent method MEPU [17] exploiting benefit of
s-version and PUM was demonstrated which accounts for coupling coarse scale domain with a
fine scale region without affecting sparsity of coarse field. Fish described methods such as
XFEM/GFEM as sparse global enrichment method SGEM and argued that MEPU is a decent
approach towards exploring use of FEM in nanotechnology. In last decade development in this
context has led to indentifying analytical solutions and using them directly as test function.
Enrichment was realized using partition of unity which was first explained by Babuska et al as
partition of unity method PUM [3]. This addition to regular FEM trial function has been called
‘extrinsic enrichment’ and it lead to additional variables in the weak formulation. Whereas an
alternative approach of replacing usual FEM shape functions with special functions to capture
local phenomenon has been termed as ‘intrinsic enrichment’. Global enrichment involving
enrichment of entire realm with such functions is also an option but it is computationally very
4
expensive technique. This approach of using analytical solution has helped to capture exact
solutions in models involving discontinuities. Following this path leads to division of domain
into three different regions which have been identified as ‘enriched domain’, ‘blending domain’
and usual ‘finite elements’ by most of the authors. Enriched domain being collection of all
elements that have all their nodes enriched. While blending elements are those that have some
but not all enriched nodes. A clear definition for the same could be found in later section of this
report. Typical example of such a model where XFEM is applied can be found in Fracture
mechanics where displacement field shows asymptotic change while strain could be singular at
the crack tip. Several other problems such as interface problems involving fluids, contact stresses
at joints or multi material problems, Shear bands and dislocation models have also been modeled
using this technique. Enriched elements have capability to reproduce exact solutions depending
on the type of enrichment used but blending elements do not have the same capability. Blending
elements serve to be a means of ensuring compatibility between enriched elements and one with
regular shape function. PUM is not satisfied in blending elements hence they are unable to
represent enriched function but instead they end up adding unwanted terms leading to impaired
accuracy and convergence properties as discussed by Chessa et al [13]. Fries presented a method
of global enrichment using a ramp function which was presented as corrected XFEM [1]. This
method was further studied by Ventura who referred to his proposition as ‘weight function
blending’ [2] which in spirit is same as Fries approach. A J Fawkes [4, 5] and colleagues tried to
solve problems involving crack tip singularities using finite element method in early approaches.
Extended finite element method presented by Belytscko [6, 7, 8] uses analytical solutions for
such solution fields near crack tip which has been area of development in past decade.
Nagashima along with colleagues tried to model interface cracks between dissimilar materials
using XFEM and proved its effectiveness for stress analysis and stress intensity factor
calculation in bi-material fracture problems [8]. Earlier papers [6-8, 9] used the leading or the
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lower order terms of asymptotic solution and calculations of desired stress intensity factor were
carried out using output results of analysis using complicated post processing. Karihaloo and
Xiao [10, 11] made an attempt to incorporate higher order terms in enrichment function to
improve accuracy of solution and also to develop technique to obtain SIF directly without any
post processing. Results obtained by [10,11] shows it is highly accurate method compared to
previous approaches and if we further limit the additional degrees of freedom due to crack tip
enrichment to be equal, the solution assumes the asymptotic field and coefficients are required
SIF. In our future discussion we would try to incorporate this suggested displacement
approximation by [10, 11] in IBM [12]. This will help us simplify the approximation by avoiding
shifting of the approximation as the essential boundary conditions are satisfied and functions
6
7
CRACK ENRICHMENT
XFEM was first introduced by Belytscko [6] with its application field concentrated on fracture
mechanics. Lot of effort has been made in this direction in order to capture discontinuities in
solution field in the given domain which in our case would be across the crack in a given
material under loading. Discontinuities could be in form of a jump which is referred as ‘strong’
discontinuity or in form of a kink referred as ‘weak’ discontinuity. Solution field as well its
case of kinks. This method is also useful to reduce stiffness of approximation in vicinity of high
gradients which helps in improving accuracy without much effort towards mesh refinement. This
XFEM. Regular FEM approximates the solution field by piece wise interpolation with help of
usual finite elements with polynomial shape functions. But in several cases these polynomial
functions cannot approximate jumps and kinks resulting in stiff solution and degradation of
accuracy. Examples of such events would be modeling of cracks for calculation of SIF, Shear
bands, dislocations, material and phase interface. In materials possessing cracks we have a jump
in displacement field across the crack while crack tip has a high gradient in stress intensity. This
has been modeled using several different techniques in past using following general
. .
u=∑ N i X i+ ∑ N j¿ φ a j
i∈ I j ∈I ¿
Where
φ Enrichment function.
8
I Entire domain.
I ¿ Enriched domain.
This was general structure given to XFEM approximation in [6] whereas definition of
Also, ∑ N ¿=1
This helps us to maintain partition of unity over entire domain which gives it capability to
represent any enrichment function in domainI ¿as explained by Babuska [3]. But this
conditions becomes difficult. A shifting of enrichment function was proposed Belytscko [7]
. .
u=∑ N i X i+ ∑ N j¿ (φ−φ j ) a j
i∈ I j ∈I ¿
Where φ iis the enrichment function evaluated at the nodes. This approximation helps us apply
essential boundary conditions though the enrichment might still be non zero on some part or
boundary other than nodes. For crack enrichment Belytscko [6] first suggested to use following
θ θ θ θ
{ φi ( r , θ ) }={√ r cos ()
2
, √ r sin()
2
, √ r sin( ) sin θ , √ r cos( )sin θ }
2 2
Karihaloo and colleagues [18, 12] tried to used higher order terms in enrichment which can be
written as follows
9
N
utip ( x ) f f
=∑ 11n 12 n K ¿
{ } [ ]{ }
v tip ( x ) n=1 f 21 n f 22 n K IIn
Where K ¿ , K IIn are respective coefficients of enrichment function. The coefficient of first terms
represent mixed mode SIF in Isotropic and homogenous materials i.e. K I 1represents Mode I and
[ ]
k+
f 11n n n n n
(
k + ( ) −(−1 ) ) sin θ− sin( −2)θ
n
[]
n
f 12 n r 2 2 2 2 2
=
f 21 n 2 μn √ 2 π n n n n
f 22 n (
k −( )−(−1 ) ) sin θ+ sin( −2)θ
2
n
2 2 2
n n n n
− k −( ) + (−1 ) ) cos θ− cos( −2)θ
( 2
n
2 2 2
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d) Function F21 e) Funtion F22 f) Overall assumed U(v)
u(x ) u (x)
{ }∑ { }
= Ni i
v (x ) i ∈ I vi ( x )
+
m∈ I
¿∗¿
{ }b
∑ N
f
[
N m H ( x ) 1m + ∑ N j ∑ 11n 12n
b2m j ∈ I
f K¿
]{ } ¿
¿
¿
n=1 f 21n f 22n K IIn
displacement field which enables crack to pass through a element having such an enrichment. N
is the number truncated terms from the analytical solution filed as shown in [12]. The domains I,
As it could be noticed that coefficient of enrichment functions are required SIFs, this approach
reduces the extra effort required to calculate computationally costly J-integrals. Also all the
coefficient are restricted to be equal and regular degrees of freedom associated with finite
element shape functions are assumed to be zero. Thus the approximation is same as theoretical
solution filed expected at crack tip. This helps in achieving higher accuracy compare to previous
methods which do not incorporate higher order terms associated with analytical solution into
approximation field.
11
Figure 1 model domain with structured grid, yellow nodes indicating step enrichment and red nodes indicating crack tip
enrichment
12
BLENDING
One of the chief advantages of XFEM is that the enrichment is localized and is only effective in
domains where the discontinuity is expected or known. At the borders between the enriched and
normal FE domain there is incompatibility due to additional degrees of freedom associated with
the enriched domain. This leads to existence of special elements referred as blending elements
earlier in this report that help in smooth transition between two different types of domains. The
problems associated with blending have been discussed in past [19, 20, and 2]. Blending
elements do not satisfy partition of unity and hence they are unable to represent enriched
function but instead they act against and affect the convergence and accuracy. Most of the
approaches developed in past to handle this problem are specific to certain application and do not
apply to arbitrary enrichment functions in general. A more general approach ‘Corrected XFEM’
was adopted in by Fries [20] wherein all the nodes in blending are enriched but the enrichment is
forced to be zero at the interface. This path leads to suppression of all parasitic terms associated
with blending elements although they would not be able to represent enrichment function. A
ramp function was multiplied with the enrichment which was called as weigh function by [2]
which was referred to as weight function blending. This weight function has compact support
and has a value one at enriched nodes and goes down to zero in regular finite element part of
model with help of a C0 polynomial function. Results obtained Ventura [2] show that weight
function blending has better accuracy and convergence properties. Gracie [21] tried to avoid
formation of blending elements using Discontinuous Galerkin (DG) by coupling two regions and
imposing continuity between the two domains using penalty approach. This method was
compared to Assumed Strain (AS) approach discussed by Chessa et al [19]. In the present
approach there are no blending elements present as the coefficients of the enrichment function
13
RAMPED STEP ENRICHMENT
When a strong discontinuity is to be applied in solution field functions such as level set function,
sign distance function or Heaviside function have been used successfully in form of step
enrichment. This report will use Heaviside function for the same as we need to assign ability to
elements to let crack pass though them. If step enrichment is shifted it normally vanishes outside
the enriched element and hence there are no blending elements. Even if approximation is not
shifted, it does not affect much as the enrichment is constant in blending elements. We have
avoided using shifting as boundary conditions are applied using IBM so in order to avoid
blending element we present a weight function which when multiplied by Heaviside function
gives a ramped step function that is zero along all edges of element and hence there are no
blending elements present in the model. The weight function helps the enrichment to die down
smoothly at the edges. This is also very easy to implement as only elements that are cut by the
discontinuity are to be enriched. This method can also used for elements that are cut by interface
Red line represents discontinuity and yellow indicate nodes enriched by Heaviside function.
Let ∂(x ) be the equation of discontinuity then Heaviside function can be defined as follows,
¿ 0 :∂ ( x ) ≤ 0
This function can be represented as follows in a isoparametric four node element with
14
Figure 2 showing Heaviside function for strong discontinuity along Y=0
φ=H ( ∂ ( x ) ) N
H is a Heaviside function which is described above and N is the weighting function which can be
chosen as follows.
n
N =(1−∑ N k )
k=1
Where k is set of all nodes in the enriched element such that value of Heaviside function is unity
H ( ∂ ( x k ) ) =1
15
IMPLICIT BOUNDARY METHOD AND SHIFTING IN XFEM
This technique is used to apply boundary conditions in FEM unconditionally, whether we have
nodes on the boundary of model or not. IBM [13] uses implicit equations of boundary to force
satisfaction of essential boundary condition using structured grid. Advantage of using this
technique is that structured grid generation is easy and elements are uniform which significantly
improves computational as well solution accuracy. IBM was used to use B spline functions as
interpolation scheme which supplies higher order continuity i.e. at least C 1 continuous, hence
with higher order test and trial functions. B spline approximations necessitate use of structured
grids and so in order for solution to posses Kronecker-δ property to satisfy the Dirichlet
experienced in general XFEM approximations where solution lacks Kronecker-δ property and a
method known as shifting is used to cope up with this challenge. Shifting satisfies boundary
conditions on nodes but it may not be satisfied along the element edge. Shifting has been
discussed in detail by Ventura et al [14] and two different types of shifting methods studied
. .
u=∑ N i X i+ ∑ N j¿ (φω−φ j ω j)a j
i∈ I j ∈I ¿
. .
u=∑ N i X i+ ∑ N j¿ ω( φ−φ j ) a j
i∈ I j ∈I ¿
ω is the weight function which has compact support and is applied in order have smooth
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Ventura showed that type 2 has better accuracy and optimal convergence rate. This report
presents a method to avoid necessity of shifting and the approximation assumed by this approach
has equally good accuracy compared when compared to shifted approximation. This approach
simplifies the approximation making it easier to implement as well reduces computational effort
required.
u(x )=D( x )¿
The Function D(x) represents step function used as weighting function that enforces boundary
conditions. This method is effective even if shape functions used do not posses Kronecker-δ
property.
0:x≤0
{ k
D ( x ) = 1−(1− x ) :0 ≤ x ≤ δ
δ
1:x≥δ
Where Function D(x) is a step function which tends to be Heaviside function aslim δ → 0
17
IMPLEMENTATION
An effort was made to incorporate the changes suggested in JAVA code IBFEM. It is based on
meshfree method discussed in IBM [13] and uses a structured grid for analysis. A new class of
enriched element was generated for XFEM which includes ramped step enriched and crack tip
enriched elements. The mathematical formulation for both the element type was discussed in
previous section as the present topic deals with stiffness matrix associated with the elements. In
order to use the previously available code to test the suggested changes following scheme was
adapted as in the elements were super imposed. Instead of having an element with regular and
enriched degrees of freedom, two different elements having same global coordinates were used.
In order to generate global stiffness matrix suitable connectivity was used so that terms add up at
. .
X =∑ N i U i+ ∑ N j¿ φ a j
i∈ I j ∈I ¿
Now since,
. .
u=∑ N i U i+ ∑ N j¿ φ a j
i∈ I j ∈I ¿
ε =∇ s N i U i+ ∇ s N j¿ φ a j
σ =[ C ]ε
σ =[ C ] [∇ s N i X i+ ∇ s N j¿ φ a j ]
B1=∇ s N i B2=∇ s N j¿ φ
18
Using this approximation in weak form of principle of virtual work we get,
∫ ϵ T σ =δX F
Ω
.
δ Ui B1 δ Ui Fu
{ }∫ [ ] [
δaj Ω B1 { }[ ]
C ] [ B 1 X i + B2 a j ] =
δ aj Fa
.
∫¿¿
Ω
Thus
[ K ] [ X e ]=[ F ]
[ K ] =¿
For 2D elasto static problem the displacement field assumed can be described as,
u1
[]
v1
u2
u N 0 N 2 0 N 3 0 N 4 0 v2
[][
U= = 1
v 0 N 1 0 N 2 0 N 3 0 N 4 u3 ]
v3
u4
v4
19
u1
[]
v1
u2
v2
u3
v3
u4
N 0 N 2 0 N 3 0 N 4 0 φ N 1 0 φ N 2 0 φ N 3 0 φ N 4 0 v4
U= u = 1
v [][
0 N1 0 N2 0 N3 0 N 4 0 φ N1 0 φ N2 0 φ N3 0 φ N 4 a1 ]
b1
a2
b2
a3
b3
a4
b4
Strain in case of plain stress conditions can be written as follows for an enriched element.
∂u
ε=
[ ]
∂x
∂v
∂y
∂ v ∂u
+
∂x ∂ y
∂ Ni ∂φNi
[ ][ ]
0 0
∂x ∂x
∂ Ni ∂ φ Ni
ε= 0 [ Xi]+ 0 [ai ]
∂y ∂y
∂ Ni ∂ Ni ∂φNi ∂ φ Ni
∂y ∂x ∂y ∂x
⏟ ⏟
B1 B2
ε =ε 1 + ε 2
20
u1
][ ]
∂N1 ∂N2 ∂N3 ∂ N4 v1
[
0 0 0 0
∂x ∂x ∂x ∂x u2
∂ N1 ∂ N2 ∂ N3 ∂N4 v2
ε 1= 0 0 0 0
∂y ∂y ∂y ∂y u3
∂N1 ∂ N1 ∂ N2 ∂ N 2 ∂ N3 ∂ N3 ∂ N4 ∂ N4 v3
∂y ∂x ∂y ∂x ∂y ∂x ∂y ∂x u4
v4
][ ]
a1
∂ φN 1 ∂ φN 2 ∂φN 3 ∂ φN 4
[
0 0 0 0 b1
∂x ∂x ∂x ∂x a2
∂ φN 1 ∂ φN 2 ∂ φN 3 ∂ φN 4
ε 2= 0 0 0 0 b2
∂y ∂y ∂y ∂y
a3
∂ φ N1 ∂ φN 1 ∂φN2 ∂ φ N 2 ∂ φ N 3 ∂ φ N 3 ∂ φN 4 ∂ φN 4
b3
∂y ∂x ∂y ∂x ∂y ∂x ∂y ∂x
a4
b4
Whereas [ K ] =¿
Which will be a 16 x 16 matrix in this case can be very easily derived using the above definition
of B1 and B2 matrix. This procedure can be extended to other elements and K matrix can be
derived accordingly.
In case of applying enrichment for singularity using Karihaloo approach we find that the
N
utip ( x ) f f
=∑ 11n 12 n K ¿
φ=
{ } [ ]{ }
v tip ( x ) n=1 f 21n f 22 n K IIn
Thus implementation of this displacement field in regular FEA code creates difficulties. Also the
coefficients are equal so in order to achieve that collapsing of nodes was used wherein all the
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nodes were mapped to one node in global stiffness matrix. Thus any enriched element added
would add its respective stiffness i.e. B2 in the global stiffness matrix. In this case B2 can be
∂ Ni ∂φNi
[ ][ ]
0 0
∂x ∂x
∂ Ni ∂ φ Ni
ε= 0 [ Xi]+ 0 [ai ]
∂y ∂y
∂ Ni ∂ Ni ∂φNi ∂ φ Ni
∂x ∂y ∂x ∂y
⏟ ⏟
B1 B2
Thus
∂ φN 1 ∂φN 2 ∂ φN 3 ∂ φN 4
[ ]
0 0 0 0
∂x ∂x ∂x ∂x
∂ φN 1 ∂ φN 2 ∂ φN 3 ∂ φN 4
B 2= 0 0 0 0
∂y ∂y ∂y ∂y
∂ φ N1 ∂ φN 1 ∂ φ N2 ∂ φ N 2 ∂ φ N 3 ∂ φ N 3 ∂ φN 4 ∂ φN 4
∂x ∂y ∂x ∂y ∂x ∂y ∂x ∂y
In this case enrichment is a vector as stated above so the corresponding stiffness matrix becomes
∂ F11 N i ∂ F 11 N i ∂ φN 2 ∂ φN 3 ∂ φN 4
[ ]
0 0 0
∂x ∂x ∂x ∂x ∂x
∂ F11 N i ∂ F 11 N i ∂ φN 2 ∂ φN 3 ∂ φN 4
B 2= 0 0 0
∂y ∂y ∂y ∂y ∂y
∂ φ N1 ∂ φN 1 ∂φN2 ∂ φ N 2 ∂ φ N 3 ∂ φ N 3 ∂ φN 4 ∂ φN 4
∂x ∂y ∂x ∂y ∂x ∂y ∂x ∂y
∂ F11 N i ∂ F 11 N i
[
B 2= ∂ x
∂ F11 N i
∂y
∂x
¿
⋮
⋮ ]
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MODELING MATERIAL INTERFACE AND WEAK DISCONTINUITIES
This section deal with modeling of weak discontinuities which may occur at material interfaces.
The earliest approaches involved as in [7] was using a level set function where the enrichment
φ i=|( ∅ ( x i ) )|=|∅ ( xi )|
But this approximation creates well known blending problems and gives sub optimal results.
Another interesting approximation was suggested by Moes [22] which can be described as
follows.
φ i=∑ |∅(x i )| N i − ∑ ∅ ( x i ) N i
i=I | i= I |
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This enrichment vanishes outside elements intersected by weak discontinuities as it can be seen
from above plot and hence there is no need of special treatment to blending elements.
SUMMARY
First section of this report describes fundamentals of XFEM with a short brief history of research
in this direction. Application of XFEM was studied in various fields and particular focus has
been given to application in fracture mechanics. Later sections deals with different methods of
crack enrichment and problem of blending. This report deals with ways studying various
methods suggested and obtaining SIF for Mix mode fracture. Of all the various approaches
Karihaloo [11] method of using analytical solution directly as approximation is most appealing
expensive post processing but its implementation in current FEA code presents a challenge.
Higher order terms were used and a general approximation for mixed mode fracture mechanics
was studied. A general problem associated with localized enrichment is of blending was
addressed and ways around it for step and crack tip enrichment are developed which gives us a
chance to further explore their application. Step enrichment does not pose a problem when we
have a shifted approximation but it should be avoided when the approximation is not shifted. The
need of shifting can be avoided using IBM which is essentially an easier and effective way to
apply boundary conditions in case of mesh independent models. A ramped step enriched
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presented in this report gives a reliable way to bring the enrichment function to zero in the same
element that has discontinuity. The same problem in case of weak discontinuities was addressed
by Moes [22] which takes care of problem of blending. In case of crack tip enrichment blending
problem could be avoided by forcing the solution field to be zero at the domain boundary.
Derivation of stiffness matrix has also been studied for better understanding of the method and
its compatibility with IBM which uses Dirichlet functions in solution structure. All cases studied
give us a positive chance to explore its application and so they should be implemented for
25
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5. Owen DRJ, Fawkes AJ, Engineering Fracture Mechanics : Numerical methods and
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8. Moes N, Dolbow J, Belytschko T. A finite element method for crack growth without
10. Nagashima T, Omoto Y, Tani S. Stress intensity factor analysis of interface cracks using
26
11. Karihaloo BL, Xiao QZ. Direct evaluation of accurate SIF using PUM. In Advances in
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crack tip asymptotic field. Fatigue and Fracture of Engineering Materials and Structures
2003: 25:719-729.
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43:539–547.
15. Fish J, Nath A. Adaptive and hierarchical modeling of fatigue crack propagation.
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high gradients. Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering 1990; 81:71–
89.
17. Lee S-H, Song J-H, Yoon Y-C, Zi G, Belytschko T. Combined extended and
superimposed finite element method for cracks. International Journal for Numerical
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19. Fan R, Fish J. The rs-method for material failure simulations. International Journal for
20. B.L. Karihaloo and Q.Z. Xiao, Accurate determination of the coefficients of elastic crack
2001; 68:1609–1630.
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21. J. Chessa, H. Wang, and T. Belytschko. On the construction of blending elements for
local partition of unity enriched finite elements. Internat. J. Numer. Methods Engrg.,
22. T.P. Fries. A corrected XFEM approximation without problems in blending elements.
23. R. Gracie, H.Wang, and T. Belytschko. Blending in the extended finite element method
24. N. Moes, M. Cloirec, P. Cartraud, and J.F. Remacle. A computational approach to handle
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