Cohesive elements

Dear All,

I am modelling a 3 point bend specimen with Cohesive elements tied to the upper and lower halves of the specimen in 2d.

The problem is that the CZ elements perform properly only for a combination of element sizes, i.e. a combination of element size of structure and CZ elements, for instance in my case the structure/specimen element size is 0.2mm and CZ is 0.001 or 0.002. For any other combination the adjacent elements bend as shown in the attached image.

I will be glad if someone could explain this behaviour and the solution.

A new piece of software has been presented that connects the well-known FE code Abaqus with Matlab. The source code, detailed documentation and a large number of tutorials can be freely downloaded from www.abaqus2matlab.com 

Some interesting applications are addressed in the associated journal article:

To use cohesive elements, normally user can add a layer of elements between neighbouring node pairs. This matlab code can help you to process that especially your FE mesh is irregular. The code, the initial .inp file and corresponding out put files are attached for a better illustration. The new generated cohesive elements won't cause any trouble in the element number. Also you can apply this code to generate new UMAT elements in mesh.

Hi all,

I am working on a model in which i have a soft layer of material bonded between to rigid layers of material via cohesive elements following a linear separation-traction law based on a critical fracture energy value I determined from experimental and numerical work. I have the interlayer and cohesive elements as one part with a partitioned face and connected to the two adherends via surface-to-surface ties. I have found that my model runs successfully only if the soft interlayer material is made very stiff.