arXiv subjects

Robert Lipton

Publications and source records attributed to Robert Lipton.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

A blended approach for evolving phase fields using peridynamics: Cyclic loading in quasi-brittle fracture

A field theory is presented for predicting damage and fracture in quasi brittle materials. It is an expression of Newton's second law for an elastic-plactic continuum. The theory satisfies energy balance, with positive energy dissipation rate in accordance with the laws of thermodynamics. The formulation delivers a mesh free method for predicting crack patterns in quasi-brittle media and simulations show quantitative and qualitative agreement with experiments, including hysteresis and damage associated with three-point bending tests on concrete and size effects for quasi-brittle materials. We conduct numerical experiments exhibiting the competition between plastic yield strength and Griffith strength on fracture nucleation. This work has appeared in the Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids, 216 (2026).

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Quasi-Brittle Fracture: The Blended Approach

A field theory is presented for predicting damage and fracture in quasi-brittle materials. The approach taken here is new and blends a non-local constitutive law with a two-point phase field. In this formulation, the material displacement field is uniquely determined by the initial boundary value problem. The theory naturally satisfies energy balance, with positive energy dissipation rate in accord with thermodynamics. Notably, these properties are not imposed but follow directly from the constitutive law and evolution equation when multiplying the equation of motion by the velocity and integrating by parts. In addition to elastic constants, the model requires at most three key material parameters: the strain at the onset of nonlinearity, the ultimate tensile strength, and the fracture toughness. The approach simplifies parameter identification while ensuring representation of material behavior. The approach seamlessly handles fracture evolution across loading regimes, from quasi-static to dynamic, accommodating both fast crack propagation and quasi-brittle failure under monotonic and cyclic loading. Numerical simulations show quantitative and qualitative agreement with experiments, including three-point bending tests on concrete. The model successfully captures the cyclic load-deflection response of crack mouth opening displacement, the structural size-effect related to ultimate load and specimen size, fracture originating from corner singularities in L- shaped domains, and bifurcating fast cracks.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2024

Nodal finite element approximation of peridynamics

This work considers the nodal finite element approximation of peridynamics, in which the nodal displacements satisfy the peridynamics equation at each mesh node. For the nonlinear bond-based peridynamics model, it is shown that, under the suitable assumptions on an exact solution, the discretized solution associated with the central-in-time and nodal finite element discretization converges to the exact solution in $L^2$ norm at the rate $C_1 \Delta t + C_2 h^2/\epsilon^2$. Here, $\Delta t$, $h$, and $\epsilon$ are time step size, mesh size, and the size of the horizon or nonlocal length scale, respectively. Constants $C_1$ and $C_2$ are independent of $h$ and $\Delta t$ and depend on norms of the solution and nonlocal length scale. Several numerical examples involving pre-crack, void, and notch are considered, and the efficacy of the proposed nodal finite element discretization is analyzed.

math.NA↗

arXiv2024

A Multiscale Fracture Model using Peridynamic Enrichment of Finite Elements within an Adaptive Partition of Unity: Experimental Validation

Partition of unity methods (PUM) are of domain decomposition type and provide the opportunity for multiscale and multiphysics numerical modeling. Within the PUM global-local enrichment scheme [1, 2] different physical models can exist to capture multiscale behavior. For instance, we consider classical linear elasticity globally and local zones where fractures occur. The elastic fields of the undamaged media provide appropriate boundary data for local PD simulations on a subdomain containing the crack tip to grow the crack path. Once the updated crack path is found, the elastic field in the body and surrounding the crack is updated using PUM basis with appropriate enrichment near the crack. The subdomain for the PD simulation is chosen to include the current crack tip as well as nearby features that will influence crack growth. This paper is part II of this series and validates the combined PD/PUM simulator against the experimental results presented in [3]. The presented results show that we can attain good agreement between experimental and simulation data with a local PD subdomain that is moving with the crack tip and adaptively chosen size.

cs.CE↗

arXiv2023

Quasistatic fracture evolution

Nonlocal quasistatic fracture evolution for interacting cracks is developed and supporting numerical examples are presented. The approach is implicit and is based on local stationarity and fixed point methods. It is proved that the fracture evolution decreases stored elastic energy with each load step as the cracks advance; provided the load increments are chosen sufficiently small. This is also seen in the numerical examples. The numerical examples include evolution of a straight crack, a crack propagating inside an L-shaped domain, and two offset inward propagating cracks.

math.NA↗

arXiv2022

Bloch Spectra for High Contrast Elastic Media

Analytic representation formulas and power series are developed to describe the band structure inside periodic elastic crystals made from high contrast inclusions. We use source free modes associated with structural spectra to represent the solution operator of the Lamé system inside phononic crystals. Convergent power series for the Bloch wave spectrum are obtained using the representation formulas. An explicit bound on the convergence radius is given through the structural spectra of the inclusion array and the Dirichlet spectra of the inclusions. Sufficient conditions for the separation of spectral branches of the dispersion relation for any fixed quasi-momentum are identified.

math.AP↗

arXiv2021

Bloch Waves in High Contrast Electromagnetic Crystals

Analytic representation formulas and power series are developed describing the band structure inside non-magnetic periodic photonic three-dimensional crystals made from high dielectric contrast inclusions. Central to this approach is the identification and utilization of a resonance spectrum for quasiperiodic source-free modes. These modes are used to represent solution operators associated with electromagnetic and acoustic waves inside periodic high contrast media. A convergent power series for the Bloch wave spectrum is recovered from the representation formulas. Explicit conditions on the contrast are found that provide lower bounds on the convergence radius. These conditions are sufficient for the separation of spectral branches of the dispersion relation for any fixed quasi-momentum.

math.AP↗

arXiv2021

Lorentz Resonance in the Homogenization of Plasmonic Crystals

We explain the Lorentz resonances in plasmonic crystals that consist of 2D nano dielectric inclusions as the interaction between resonant material properties and geometric resonances of electrostatic nature. One example of such plasmonic crystals are graphene nanosheets that are periodically arranged within a non-magnetic bulk dielectric. We identify local geometric resonances on the length scale of the small scale period. From a materials perspective, the graphene surface exhibits a dispersive surface conductance captured by the Drude model. Together these phenomena conspire to generate Lorentz resonances at frequencies controlled by the surface geometry and the surface conductance. The Lorentz resonances found in the frequency response of the effective dielectric tensor of the bulk metamaterial is shown to be given by an explicit formula, in which material properties and geometric resonances are decoupled. This formula is rigorous and obtained directly from corrector fields describing local electrostatic fields inside the heterogeneous structure. Our analytical findings can serve as an efficient computational tool to describe the general frequency dependence of periodic optical devices. As a concrete example, we investigate two prototypical geometries composed of nanotubes and nanoribbons.

physics.optics↗

arXiv2021

A Fracture Multiscale Model for Peridynamic enrichment within the Partition of Unity Method

Partition of unity methods (PUM) are of domain decomposition type and provide the opportunity for multiscale and multiphysics numerical modeling. Different physical models can exist within a PUM scheme for handling problems with zones of linear elasticity and zones where fractures occur. Here, the peridynamic (PD) model is used in regions of fracture and smooth PUM is used in the surrounding linear elastic media. The method is a so-called global-local enrichment strategy. The elastic fields of the undamaged media provide appropriate boundary data for the localized PD simulations. The first steps for a combined PD/PUM simulator are presented. In part I of this series, we show that the local PD approximation can be utilized to enrich the global PUM approximation to capture the true material response with high accuracy efficiently. Test problems are provided demonstrating the validity and potential of this numerical approach.

cs.CE↗

arXiv2021

Peridynamics-based discrete element method (PeriDEM) model of granular systems involving breakage of arbitrarily shaped particles

Usage, manipulation, transport, delivery, and mixing of granular or particulate media, comprised of spherical or polyhedral particles, is commonly encountered in industrial sectors of construction (cement and rock fragments), pharmaceutics (tablets), and transportation (ballast). Elucidating particulate media's behavior in concert with particle attrition (i.e., particle wear and subsequent particle fragmentation) is essential for predicting the performance and increasing the efficiency of engineering systems using such media. Discrete element method (DEM) based techniques can describe the interaction between particles but cannot model intra-particle deformation, especially intra-particle fracture. On the other hand, peridynamics provides the means to account for intra-particle deformation and fracture due to contact forces between particles. The present study proposes a hybrid model referred to as \textit{PeriDEM} that combines the advantages of peridynamics and DEM. The model parameters can be tuned to achieve desired DEM contact forces, damping effects, and intra-particle stiffness. Two particle impacts and compressive behavior of multi-particle systems are thoroughly investigated. The model can account for any arbitrarily shaped particle in general. Spherical, hexagonal, and non-convex particle shapes are simulated in the present study. The effect of mesh resolution on intra-particle peridynamics is explicitly studied. The proposed hybrid model opens a new avenue to explore the complicated interactions encountered in discrete particle dynamics that involve the formation of force chains, particle interlocking, particle attrition, wear, and the eventual breakage.

cs.CE↗

arXiv2020

An asynchronous and task-based implementation of Peridynamics utilizing HPX -- the C++ standard library for parallelism and concurrency

On modern supercomputers, asynchronous many task systems are emerging to address the new architecture of computational nodes. Through this shift of increasing cores per node, a new programming model with the focus on handle the fine-grain parallelism of this increasing amount of cores per computational node is needed. Asynchronous Many Task (AMT) run time systems represent an emerging paradigm for addressing fine-grain parallelism since they handle the increasing amount of threads per node and concurrency. HPX, a open source C++ standard library for parallelism and concurrency, is one AMT which is confirm with the C++ standard. Which means that HPX's Application Programming Interface (API) is confirm with its definition by the C++ standard committee. For example for the concept of futurization the hpx:future can be replaced by std::future without breaking the API. Peridynamics is a non-local generalization of continuum mechanics tailored to address discontinuous displacement fields arising in fracture mechanics. As many non-local approaches, peridynamics requires considerable computing resources to solve practical problems. This paper investigates the implementation of a peridynamics EMU nodal discretization in an asynchronous task-based fashion. The scalability of asynchronous task-based implementation is to be in agreement with theoretical estimations. In addition, to the scalabilty the code is convergent for implicit time integration and recovers theoretical solutions. Explicit time integration, convergence results are presented to showcase the agreement of results with theoretical claims in previous works.

cs.DC↗

arXiv2020

Classic dynamic fracture recovered as the limit of a nonlocal peridynamic model: The single edge notch in tension

A simple nonlocal field theory of peridynamic type is applied to model brittle fracture. The fracture evolution is shown to converge in the limit of vanishing nonlocality to classic plane elastodynamics with a running crack. The kinetic relation for the crack is recovered directly from the nonlocal model in the limit of vanishing nonlocality. We carry out our analysis for a single crack in a plate subject to mode one loading. The convergence is corroborated by numerical experiments.

math.AP↗

arXiv2019

Multiscale-Spectral GFEM and Optimal Oversampling

In this work we address the Multiscale Spectral Generalized Finite Element Method (MS-GFEM) developed in [I. Babuška and R. Lipton, Multiscale Modeling and Simulation 9 (2011), pp. 373--406]. We outline the numerical implementation of this method and present simulations that demonstrate contrast independent exponential convergence of MS-GFEM solutions. We introduce strategies to reduce the computational cost of generating the optimal oversampled local approximating spaces used here. These strategies retain accuracy while reducing the computational work necessary to generate local bases. Motivated by oversampling we develop a nearly optimal local basis based on a partition of unity on the boundary and the associated A-harmonic extensions.

math.NA↗

arXiv2019

Finite element convergence for state-based peridynamic fracture models

We establish the a-priori convergence rate for finite element approximations of a class of nonlocal nonlinear fracture models. We consider state based peridynamic models where the force at a material point is due to both the strain between two points and the change in volume inside the domain of nonlocal interaction. The pairwise interactions between points are mediated by a bond potential of multi-well type while multi point interactions are associated with volume change mediated by a hydrostatic strain potential. The hydrostatic potential can either be a quadratic function, delivering a linear force-strain relation, or a multi-well type that can be associated with material degradation and cavitation. We first show the well-posedness of the peridynamic formulation and that peridynamic evolutions exist in the Sobolev space $H^2$. We show that the finite element approximations converge to the $H^2$ solutions uniformly as measured in the mean square norm. For linear continuous finite elements the convergence rate is shown to be $C_t \Delta t + C_s h^2/\epsilon^2$, where $\epsilon$ is the size of horizon, $h$ is the mesh size, and $\Delta t$ is the size of time step. The constants $C_t$ and $C_s$ are independent of $\Delta t$ and $h$ and may depend on $\epsilon$ through the norm of the exact solution. We demonstrate the stability of the semi-discrete approximation. The stability of the fully discrete approximation is shown for the linearized peridynamic force. We present numerical simulations with dynamic crack propagation that support the theoretical convergence rate.

math.NA↗

arXiv2018

Numerical convergence of finite difference approximations for state based peridynamic fracture models

In this work, we study the finite difference approximation for a class of nonlocal fracture models. The nonlocal model is initially elastic but beyond a critical strain the material softens with increasing strain. This model is formulated as a state-based perydynamic model using two potentials: one associated with hydrostatic strain and the other associated with tensile strain. We show that the dynamic evolution is well-posed in the space of H\"older continuous functions $C^{0,\gamma}$ with H\"older exponent $\gamma \in (0,1]$. Here the length scale of nonlocality is $\epsilon$, the size of time step is $\Delta t$ and the mesh size is $h$. The finite difference approximations are seen to converge to the H\"older solution at the rate $C_t \Delta t + C_s h^\gamma/\epsilon^2$ where the constants $C_t$ and $C_s$ are independent of the discretization. The semi-discrete approximations are found to be stable with time. We present numerical simulations for crack propagation that computationally verify the theoretically predicted convergence rate. We also present numerical simulations for crack propagation in precracked samples subject to a bending load.

math.NA↗

arXiv2017

Finite element approximation of nonlocal fracture models

We consider nonlocal nonlinear potentials and estimate the rate of convergence of time stepping schemes to the peridynamic equation of motion. We begin by establishing the existence of $H^2$ solutions over any finite time interval. Here spatial approximation by finite element interpolations are considered. The energy stability of the associated semi-discrete time stepping scheme is established and the approximation of strong and weak formulations of the evolution using FE interpolations of $H^2$ solutions are investigated. The strong and weak form of approximations are shown to converge to the actual solution in the mean square norm at the rate $C_t\Delta t +C_s h^2/\epsilon^2$ where $h$ is the mesh size, $\epsilon$ is the size of nonlocal interaction and $\Delta t$ is the time step. The constants $C_t$ and $C_s$ are independent of $\Delta t$, and $h$. In the absence of nonlinearity a CFL like condition for the energy stability of the central difference time discretization scheme is developed.

math.NA↗

arXiv2017

Numerical convergence of nonlinear nonlocal continuum models to local elastodynamics

We quantify the numerical error and modeling error associated with replacing a nonlinear nonlocal bond-based peridynamic model with a local elasticity model or a linearized peridynamics model away from the fracture set. The nonlocal model treated here is characterized by a double well potential and is a smooth version of the peridynamic model introduced in n Silling (J Mech Phys Solids 48(1), 2000). The solutions of nonlinear peridynamics are shown to converge to the solution of linear elastodynamics at a rate linear with respect to the length scale $\epsilon$ of non local interaction. This rate also holds for the convergence of solutions of the linearized peridynamic model to the solution of the local elastodynamic model. For local linear Lagrange interpolation the consistency error for the numerical approximation is found to depend on the ratio between mesh size $h$ and $\epsilon$. More generally for local Lagrange interpolation of order $p\geq 1$ the consistency error is of order $h^p/\epsilon$. A new stability theory for the time discretization is provided and an explicit generalization of the CFL condition on the time step and its relation to mesh size $h$ is given. Numerical simulations are provided illustrating the consistency error associated with the convergence of nonlinear and linearized peridynamics to linear elastodynamics.

math.NA↗

arXiv2017

Numerical analysis of nonlocal fracture models in H\"older space

In this work, we calculate the convergence rate of the finite difference approximation for a class of nonlocal fracture models. We consider two point force interactions characterized by a double well potential. We show the existence of a evolving displacement field in H\"{o}lder space with H\"{o}lder exponent $\gamma \in (0,1]$. The rate of convergence of the finite difference approximation depends on the factor $C_s h^\gamma/\epsilon^2$ where $\epsilon$ gives the length scale of nonlocal interaction, $h$ is the discretization length and $C_s$ is the maximum of H\"older norm of the solution and its second derivatives during the evolution. It is shown that the rate of convergence holds for both the forward Euler scheme as well as general single step implicit schemes. A stability result is established for the semi-discrete approximation. The H\"older continuous evolutions are seen to converge to a brittle fracture evolution in the limit of vanishing nonlocality.

math.NA↗