Abstract
A systematic literature review on numerical strategies suitable to simulate defects and discontinuities in layered and sandwich structures is presented here. Particular care is given to studies whose scope concerns the so-called Moving Mesh (MM) or Isogeometric Analysis (IGA) methods. A general overview of the peculiarities of each approach is also provided. A total of fifteen and twenty-six journal/conference articles were summarised and categorised for MM and IGA methods, respectively. Based on the available literature, it can be stated that MM approaches generally allow a lower computational burden due to the reduced number of re-meshing steps required when compared to standard finite element approaches. Conversely, IGA approaches bring strong advantages in the geometric description of curved shell structures and, due to a non-uniform rational b-spline interpolation function, ensure higher numerical accuracy in stress analysis problems.