The third Sandia Fracture Challenge: from theory to practice in a classroom setting

Three computational methods for modeling fracture are compared in the context of a class’ participation in the Third Sandia Fracture Challenge (SFC3). The SFC3 was issued to assess blind predictions of ductile fracture in a complex specimen geometry produced via additive manufacturing of stainless steel 316L powder. In this work, three finite-element-based methods are investigated: (1) adaptive remeshing, with or without material-state mapping; (2) element deletion; and (3) the extended finite element method. Each student team was tasked with learning about its respective method, calibrating model parameters, and performing blind prediction(s) of fracture/failure in the challenge-geometry specimen. Out of 21 teams who participated in the SFC3, three of the seven student teams from this class project ranked among the top five based on either global force-displacement or local strain predictions. Advantages and disadvantages of the three modeling approaches are identified in terms of mesh dependency, user-friendliness, and accuracy compared to experimental results. Recommendations regarding project management and organization are offered to facilitate future classroom participation in the Sandia Fracture Challenge or similar blind round-robin exercises.