Learning Forum

[ThomasDD]

We have learned here that you cannot pause a crack propagation simulation. Restart is not supported. But, this function would be enormously helpful here. What exactly is the crack doing? What does the last meshed crack front look like? Where is the crack going? Does it make sense to continue the analysis at this point?

Are there other ways to monitor a crack during a crack propagation analysis? The only thing that is written in the solve.out is the maximum crack extension in each substep. It is possible to see the meshes of the last substeps, possibly with another Wokbench or with Ansys Classic, while the simulation is still running? The meshes for each substep must be stored somewhere. Or can I to make more outputs regarding the crack in the solve.out? E.g. the coordinates of the crack front at the surface and apex?

[Asitang Lahurikar]

Hi Thomas, 

To visually observe the development of a crack, you can use the Deformation Plot Tracker. Have you considered this option? It can be inserted under the Solution Information branch prior to commencing the solution process for the model. You may adjust the update mode to 'Automatic' to visualize the crack progression.

Hope this helps!
Regards,
Asitang

[ThomasDD]

Great! Thanks! Thats what I need. I didn't know there was such a thing.

Nevertheless, it would be great if the developers would not only write the maximum crack extension for each substep in the solve.out, but also the number of cycles and the maximum stress intensity factor. Two more small numbers and you would have all the information about the crack.