Hybrid of monolithic and staggered solution techniques for the computational analysis of fracture, assessed on fibrous network mechanics

The computational analysis of fiber network fracture is an emerging field with application to paper, rubber-like materials, hydrogels, soft biological tissue, and composites. Fiber networks are often described as probabilistic structures interacting one-dimensional elements, such truss-bars beams. Failure may then be modeled strong discontinuities in the displacement that directly embedded within structural finite elements. As for other strain-softening tangent stiffness matrix can non-positive definite, which diminishes robustness solution coupled (monolithic) two-field problem. Its uncoupling, thus use a staggered method where variables solved alternatingly, avoids difficulties results stable, but sub-optimally converging method. In present work, we evaluate against monolithic approach assess their performance failure. We propose hybrid technique optimizes analysis. It represents regularization retains positive definite element while approaching general also accelerate failure problems.