ABSTRACT
Localization, which is resulted from the gathering of the deformations within narrow bands with finite width, is an encountered failure phenomenon in rock and soil. Compared with the characteristic dimensions of the interested domain under consideration, the width is usually small and localized deformation can be considered as a strong discontinuity. Based on manifold method, this paper presents a technique to model the strong discontinuity. In the technique, materials are assumed to be elastic-brittle. If shear stress in the materials reaches the shear strength, local shear failure will be induced and discontinuity is formed. Interface elements are incorporated to model the discontinuity. The local failure will develop progressively into a large discontinuity surface. No remeshing is needed to capture the strong discontinuities during the process. A test problem is given to show the effectiveness of the technique.
