Mesh-dependence of Material with Softening Behavior

The issue of mesh-dependence emerges when the conventional continuum damage model is applied to handling the softening behavior. In order to circumvent the mesh-dependence, the non-local theory is introduced into the conventional damage model and the finite element formulas are derived for two-dimensional gradient-enhanced damage model. A new element is proposed in which the basic unknown quantities are displacement, non-local equivalent strain and the gradient of non-local equivalent strain. The element and constitutive equation proposed in this article are added to the finite element software ABAQUS through user subroutine UEL. Numerical results show that the gradient-enhanced damage model can eliminate the mesh-dependence and is effective for dealing with the issue of softening behavior.