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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Plungė, N., Brommer, P., Edwards, R. S., Kakouris, E. G.
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
Subjects:
Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.20120
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author Plungė, N.
Brommer, P.
Edwards, R. S.
Kakouris, E. G.
author_facet Plungė, N.
Brommer, P.
Edwards, R. S.
Kakouris, E. G.
contents This work presents a variational physics-informed deep learning framework for phase-field modelling of brittle crack propagation in anisotropic media. Previous Deep Ritz Method (DRM) approaches have focused on second-order, isotropic phase-field fracture formulations. In contrast, the present work introduces, for the first time within a variational deep learning setting, a family of higher-order anisotropic phase-field models through a generalised crack density functional. The resulting fracture problem is solved by minimising the total energy using the DRM. The trial space is enriched with higher-order B-spline basis functions to represent higher-order gradients accurately and stably, thereby eliminating the need for conventional automatic differentiation. The methodology is assessed for isotropic, cubic, and orthotropic fracture surface energy densities. Numerical examples demonstrate direction-dependent crack growth in anisotropic cases, highlighting the capability of the method to accurately capture this behaviour.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_20120
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Deep learning-based phase-field modelling of brittle fracture in anisotropic media
Plungė, N.
Brommer, P.
Edwards, R. S.
Kakouris, E. G.
Computational Physics
This work presents a variational physics-informed deep learning framework for phase-field modelling of brittle crack propagation in anisotropic media. Previous Deep Ritz Method (DRM) approaches have focused on second-order, isotropic phase-field fracture formulations. In contrast, the present work introduces, for the first time within a variational deep learning setting, a family of higher-order anisotropic phase-field models through a generalised crack density functional. The resulting fracture problem is solved by minimising the total energy using the DRM. The trial space is enriched with higher-order B-spline basis functions to represent higher-order gradients accurately and stably, thereby eliminating the need for conventional automatic differentiation. The methodology is assessed for isotropic, cubic, and orthotropic fracture surface energy densities. Numerical examples demonstrate direction-dependent crack growth in anisotropic cases, highlighting the capability of the method to accurately capture this behaviour.
title Deep learning-based phase-field modelling of brittle fracture in anisotropic media
topic Computational Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.20120