Abstract

Plasticity models provide suitable tools to describe the so-called yield line pattern that occurs with the failure of plates. However, in a Lagrangian description a huge number of finite elements are needed for accurate solutions. Accuracy can be combined with low computer costs by means of the arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian (ALE) method. With the ALE method, the finite element mesh is automatically refined in the yield lines. A new remesh indicator is proposed that captures newly appearing yield lines as well as already formed yield lines. Numerical examples show the effectiveness of this approach.