p‐convergent finite element approximations in fracture mechanics

The strain energy release rate ( G ) converges rapidly in finite element approximations in which the finite element mesh is fixed and the order of polynomial displacement interpolations ( p ) is increased. Numerical experiments indicate that the error in G is very closely estimated, even for small p and very coarse finite element meshes, by an expression of the form k (NDF) ‐1 in which k is a mesh dependent constant and NDF is the number of degrees‐of‐freedom. The method provides for very efficient and accurate computation of G without the use of special techniques.