a new approach is proposed to model a crack in orthotropic composite media using the extended finite element method (xfem). the xfem uses the concept of partition of unity in addition to meshless basic idea of approximating a field variable by its values at a set of surrounding nodes. as a result, higher order approximations can be designed with the same total number of degrees of freedom. in t...

The Extended Finite Element Method (XFEM) is a technique used in fracture mechanics to predict how objects deform as cracks form and propagate through them. Here, we propose the use of XFEM to model the deformations resulting from cutting through organ tissues. We show that XFEM has the potential for being the technique of choice for modelling tissue retraction and resection during surgery. Can...

We introduce a new, efficient approach for modelling the deformation of organs following surgical cuts, retractions, and resections. It uses the extended finite element method (XFEM), recently developed in ”fracture mechanics” for dealing with cracks in mechanical parts. XFEM eliminates the computationally-expensive remeshing that would be required if the standard finite element method (FEM) wa...

A higher-order accurate finite element method is proposed which uses automatically generated meshes based on implicit level-set data for the description of boundaries and interfaces in two and three dimensions. The method is an alternative for fictitious domain and extended finite element methods. The domain of interest is immersed in a background mesh composed by higher-order elements. The zer...