The meshes have been generated using Targe2, a mesh generator based on the advancing front technique and created by Petr Krysl . Click on the left figure if you want see a sequence of meshes generated by a pseudo-adaptive procedure. By clicking on the right figure you can start a crack propagation video . This simulation has been run on a mesh consisting of 13,000 tetrahedral elements using the nonlocal version of the RC-SD model. The figures below illustrate the transition from the initial diffuse damage pattern to the final highly localized one.
Black lines correspond to opening cracks and white lines to closing cracks.
Colors indicate various levels of cracking strain. You may also look at an animated sequence .