A Numerical Study of the Jerky Crack Growth in Elastoplastic Materials with Localized Plasticity

We present a numerical implementation of a model of quasi-static crack growth in linearly elastic-perfectly plastic materials. We assume that the displacement is antiplane, and that the cracks and the plastic slips are localized on a prescribed path. We provide numerical evidence of the fact that the crack growth is intermittent, with jump characteristics that depend on the material properties.