A note on mixed-mode fracture by the smoothing gradient damage model

ABSTRACT The objective of this technical note is to illustrate twofold. The first issue is devoted to the ability of the recently developed smoothing gradient-enhanced damage model (SGDM), which is associated with the modified von Mises equivalent strain in modelling mixed-mode fracture problems, in particular the common Nooru–Mohamed's test. We show that the developed approach works pretty well for this test, yielding appropriate structural damage response and crack paths for all three specimen sizes, i.e. and . The second issue is, in a similar manner, to discuss the less accuracy of another damage model, the localising gradient damage scheme recently studied by Shedbale et al. Int. J. Mech Sci 2021, 199:106410, in reproducing crack paths and structural responses for the same mixed-mode problem.