Nonlocality, which has a long history in continuum mechanics, is gaining importance in simulation of fracture. It is a feature of multiple contemporary approaches to fracture modeling, including peridynamics and certain implementations of fracture in finite element codes. For example, phase field methods for fracture implicitly include a length scale, implying a connection with nonlocality. However, researchers in this spectrum of techniques often fail to agree on the proper role of nonlocality in modeling fracture, including disagreement on whether nonlocality has any justifiable physical basis, or whether instead it should be viewed as an artificial way of regularizing the mathematical model. In this workshop, we plan to encourage better understanding of nonlocality among practitioners of different techniques for fracture modeling and identify common ground and differences between its role in various methods. It is hoped that this forum will promote better communication among researchers and an improved understanding of the strengths and challenges in different computational methods involving aspects of nonlocality.

Support from Oak Ridge National Laboratory is gratefully acknowledged.