XFEM for Composites, Biological, and Bioinspired Materials: A Review.

Area of Science:

• Structural Mechanics
• Computational Material Science
• Fracture Mechanics

Background:

• The eXtended finite element method (XFEM) is crucial for understanding material responses to stress.
• XFEM reveals links between material topology and fracture behavior in diverse materials.
• A focused review of XFEM applications, rather than its numerical modeling aspects, is needed.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide a detailed revision of case studies utilizing XFEM.
• To highlight XFEM's applications in material design and analysis.
• To compare XFEM with other computational fracture models.

Main Methods:

• Introduction and comparison of XFEM with contour integral, virtual crack closing technique, cohesive zone, and phase-field models.
• Discussion of pros and cons, including numerical convergence, software implementation, crack parameter setup, and speed.
• Demonstration of XFEM in material design through current research.

Main Results:

• XFEM enhances understanding of fracture toughening mechanisms like crack deflection and arrest.
• Current research highlights XFEM's use in composites, biological, and bioinspired materials.
• XFEM shows promise in various other scientific and engineering fields.

Conclusions:

• XFEM offers significant advantages in analyzing material fracture behavior.
• Drawbacks of XFEM are discussed, alongside future research directions.
• Integration of XFEM with artificial intelligence presents a promising future perspective.