Elastic microcracked bodies with random properties: Numerical investigations

After a summary of the multifield approach to the analysis of elastic microcracked solid bodies, the introduction of stochastic uncertainties in the properties and distribution of the microcracks is discussed. Numerical examples are presented: the strain localization phenomena that have already been found in deterministic bodies are confirmed, and similar patterns are shown to exist also for the stochastic moments of the displacements. In particular, the localization of skewness and kurtosis becomes stronger as the mesoscale characteristic length is more correlated. Since strain localization may initiate macrofractures, these results appear of great interest in view of further developments concerning the reliability of mechanical and structural components.