Implementation of a parallel finite-element library: test case on a non-local continuum damage model

This paper presents an efficient method to implement a damage law within an explicit time-integration scheme, in an open-source object-oriented finite-element framework. The hybrid object/vector design of the framework and implementation choices are detailed in the special case of non-local continuum damage constitutive laws. The computationally demanding aspect of such constitutive laws requires efficient algorithms, capable of using High Performance Computing (HPC) clusters. The performance of our approach is demonstrated on a numerically and physically challenging 3D dynamic brittle-fragmentation test case. An almost perfect scalability is achieved on parallel computations. The global dynamics and energy terms are in good agreement with classical cohesive models’ predictions.