*CONTOUR INTEGRAL

ProductsAbaqus/StandardAbaqus/CAE

TypeHistory data

LevelStep

Abaqus/CAEInteraction module

Required parameters

CONTOURS: Set this parameter equal to the number of contours to be used. Each contour provides an evaluation of the contour integral.

Optional parameters

CRACK NAME

Set this parameter equal to a label to use to refer to the crack. When the extended finite element method is used, set this parameter equal to the name assigned to the enriched feature on the ENRICHMENT option.

CRACK TIP NODES

Include this parameter to indicate that the crack tip nodes are specified to form the crack front line. If this parameter is omitted, the crack front line is formed along the first nodes of the crack front node sets. (The first node is the node with the smallest node number for each crack front node set, unless the node set is generated as unsorted.)

This parameter is not relevant when the XFEM parameter is specified.

DIRECTION

This parameter can be used only in combination with the TYPE=K FACTORS parameter.

Set DIRECTION=MTS (default) to choose the maximum tangential stress criterion.

Set DIRECTION=MERR to choose the maximum energy release rate criterion.

Set DIRECTION=KII0 to choose the $K_{I I} = 0$ criterion.

ELSET

Set this parameter equal to the name of the element set containing all elements inside the contour integral domain.

By default, Abaqus/Standard searches through all elements in the model to find the ones used for the domain. Therefore, this search is time consuming for extremely large models.

FREQUENCY

Set this parameter equal to the output frequency, in increments. The output is always printed at the last increment of each step unless FREQUENCY=0. The default is FREQUENCY=1. Set FREQUENCY=0 to suppress the output.

NON-PROPORTIONAL STRESSING

Include this parameter to account for non-proportional stressing.

If this parameter is omitted, the proportional stressing condition is assumed to be satisfied when the contour integrals are calculated.

NORMAL

Include this parameter to indicate that the direction normal to the plane of the crack $n$ is specified. Omit this parameter to indicate that the virtual crack extension direction $q$ is specified.

This parameter is not relevant when the XFEM parameter is specified.

RING RADIUS

This parameter is relevant only when tetrahedral elements are used for fracture mechanics studies based on the conventional finite element method.

Set this parameter equal to a small radius from the crack tip within which rings of elements are used for fracture mechanics studies. The default value of the ring radius is twice the typical element characteristic length of those elements along the crack front. The default value works well for most problems.

OUTPUT

If this parameter is omitted, the contour integral values will be printed in the data (.dat) file but not stored in the results (.fil) file.

Set OUTPUT=FILE to store the contour integral values in the results file.

Set OUTPUT=BOTH to print the contour integral values in the data file and to store them in the results file.

RESIDUAL STRESS STEP

Use this parameter to account for the effect of residual stress gradients on the contour integral evaluation. Set this parameter equal to the step number from which the stress data in the last available increment of the specified step will be considered as residual stresses. The default is 0, in which case the residual stresses are defined by the specified initial conditions.

This parameter can be set equal to zero only when the XFEM parameter is specified.

SURFACE NORMAL

Set SURFACE NORMAL=NONE (default) if no surface normal is calculated.

Set SURFACE NORMAL=FREE to calculate the surface normals on the free surfaces.

Set SURFACE NORMAL=CRACK to calculate the surface normals on the crack surfaces.

Set SURFACE NORMAL=BOTH to calculate the surface normals on both the free and crack surfaces.

SYMM

Include this parameter to indicate that the crack front is defined on a symmetry plane, with only half the structure modeled. The change in potential energy calculated from the virtual crack front advance is then doubled to compute the correct contour integral values.

This parameter is not relevant when the XFEM parameter is specified.

TYPE

Set TYPE=J (default) to specify J-integral calculations.

Set TYPE=C to specify $C_{t}$ -integral calculations.

Set TYPE=K FACTORS to specify the calculations of the stress intensity factors.

Set TYPE=T-STRESS to specify the T-stress calculations.

XFEM

Include this parameter to indicate the type of integration method to use. This setting is applicable only to cracks modeled as an enriched feature (XFEM).

Set XFEM=DOMAIN to indicate that the fracture parameters are evaluated by using the domain integral method.

Set XFEM=LINE (default) to indicate that the fracture parameters are evaluated by using the line integral method.

Data lines if the NORMAL parameter is included but the CRACK TIP NODES and XFEM parameters are both omitted

First line

$n_{x}$ -direction cosine of the normal to the plane of the crack ( $n_{r}$ for axisymmetric cases).
$n_{y}$ -direction cosine of the normal to the plane of the crack ( $n_{z}$ for axisymmetric cases).
For three-dimensional cases give the $n_{z}$ -direction cosine of the normal to the plane of the crack. This field can be left blank for two-dimensional and axisymmetric cases.

Second line

A list of node set names that define the crack front (in two-dimensional cases this will be one node set only). Each node set must contain all the nodes at one position on the crack front.

Repeat the second data line as often as necessary to define the crack front node sets. Up to 16 entries are allowed per line.

Data lines if the NORMAL, CRACK TIP NODES, and XFEM parameters are all omitted

First line

Node set name. The node set must contain all the nodes at one position on the crack front.
$q_{x}$ -direction cosine of the virtual crack extension direction ( $q_{r}$ for axisymmetric cases).
$q_{y}$ -direction cosine of the virtual crack extension direction ( $q_{z}$ for axisymmetric cases).
For three-dimensional cases give the $q_{z}$ -direction cosine of the virtual crack extension direction. This field can be left blank for two-dimensional and axisymmetric cases.

In two-dimensional cases only one data line is necessary. In three-dimensional cases repeat this data line as often as necessary to define the crack front node sets and virtual crack extension vectors along the crack front.

Data lines if the NORMAL and CRACK TIP NODES parameters are both included but the XFEM parameter is omitted

First line

$n_{x}$ -direction cosine of the normal to the plane of the crack ( $n_{r}$ for axisymmetric cases).
$n_{y}$ -direction cosine of the normal to the plane of the crack ( $n_{z}$ for axisymmetric cases).
For three-dimensional cases give the $n_{z}$ -direction cosine of the normal to the plane of the crack. This field can be left blank for two-dimensional and axisymmetric cases.

Second line

First crack front node set.
Node number of the first crack tip node or the node set that contains a crack tip node.
Second crack front node set.
Node number of the second crack tip node or node set that contains a crack tip node.
Etc., up to 8 pairs per line.

Repeat the second data line as often as necessary to define the crack front.

Data lines if the NORMAL and XFEM parameters are both omitted but the CRACK TIP NODES parameter is included

First line

Node set name. The node set must contain all the nodes at one position on the crack front.
Node number of the crack tip node or a node set that contains a crack tip node.
$q_{x}$ -direction cosine of the virtual crack extension direction ( $q_{r}$ for axisymmetric cases).
$q_{y}$ -direction cosine of the virtual crack extension direction ( $q_{z}$ for axisymmetric cases).
For three-dimensional cases give the $q_{z}$ -direction cosine of the virtual crack extension direction. This field can be left blank for two-dimensional and axisymmetric cases.

*CONTOUR INTEGRAL

Required parameters

Optional parameters

Data lines if the NORMAL parameter is included but the CRACK TIP NODES and XFEM parameters are both omitted

Data lines if the NORMAL, CRACK TIP NODES, and XFEM parameters are all omitted

Data lines if the NORMAL and CRACK TIP NODES parameters are both included but the XFEM parameter is omitted

Data lines if the NORMAL and XFEM parameters are both omitted but the CRACK TIP NODES parameter is included

No data lines are needed if the XFEM parameter is included