J-integral : how to set the "step" between the succesive contours 1

[eispiata]

Hi everybody,

I am modeling a "seam" crack inside the geometry and i would like to compute the J-integral of that crack. So what i did is that i defined the crack tip and the direction of the crack growth.

The problem is that when i take a look at the results the first contours return quite good values but the successive contours return a value almost equal to zero as if these last contours were surrounding not only the crack tip but also the second crack tip (this is a crack inside the geometry and thus it has two crack tips) and thus the whole crack (see picture).

How can i force a kind of "contour step". What i mean is how can i impose the successive contours to only surround the crack tip and not the whole crack?

Indeed my crack is very small compared to the global geometry of the model but i need to compute the J-integral of that small crack.

I am using a very refined mesh but it doesn't help...

Thanks,

Malik

 

[xerf]

Actually, you can visualize the contours in Visualization Module ->Tools->Display Group->Create

Select "Nodes". ABAQUS creates node sets for subsequent contours. (Check "Highlight items in viewport")

Usually the first contour gives bad results. The value should converge in 3 to 5 contours if the mesh is good.

 

[eispiata]

Thanks Xerf,

You are always very helpful.

Malik