A new method for failure and post failure analysis of structures is proposed. A structure is modeled as an assembly of distinct elements. These elements are connected by distributed springs in both normal and tangential directions. The main objective of this paper is to develop a new simple and efficient technique for failure of structures that can follow the structural behavior during failure in reasonable time with reliable accuracy. Although the proposed technique is simple, it is generalized method which can be applied for any type of structure or material. The idea of this technique depends mainly on determining the residual forces resulting from geometrical changes and material nonlinearity during loading. We developed the numerical technique and it is verified by comparing with many cases. in all cases, the results obtained show good agreement with the fracture behavior, separation of elements and the rigid body motion of failed parts of the structure.
Hatem Tagel-Din and Kimiro Meguro: A New Simple and Accurate Technique for Failure Analysis of Structures, Bulletin of Earthquake Resistant Structure Research Center, Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, No. 31, March 1998.