Enriched finite element methods for fracture-based analysis and design

Cracks, which could nucleate and propagate in engineering structures, could have an adverse effect on mechanical performance and even lead to catastrophic failure. Thus, it is critical to investigate structural behavior under fracture, which requires an appropriate modeling methodology for fracture analysis. Furthermore, designing structures that are resilient to fracture is highly desired, where it is necessary to find a computational design technique for improving the structural fracture resistance. This thesis focuses on realizing these two goals....