p‐convergent finite element approximations in fracture mechanics

Abstract

The strain energy release rate (G) converges rapidly in finite element approximations in which the finite element mesh is fixed and the order of polynomial displacement interpolations (p) is increased. Numerical experiments indicate that the error inG is very closely estimated, even for small pand very coarse finite element meshes, by an expression of the form k (NDF)^‐1 in which k is a mesh dependent constant and NDF is the number of degrees‐of‐freedom. The method provides for very efficient and accurate computation of G without the use of special techniques.