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We extended PDS-FEM for simulating thermal conduction, thermal induced mechanical deformation and cracking of brittle elastic materials with the long-term objective of simulating high-power LASER induced cracking in large concrete bodies. Taking a variational approach, we derived the governing matrix equations for simulating the above phenomena using higher-order PDS-FEM (HO-PDS-FEM). Due to the involvement of extreme temperatures in the target long-term application, both the radiative and convective boundary conditions are taken into account. Implementation of static and transient thermal conduction are verified comparing with analytical solutions, and thermal induced cracking is validated by comparing with experimental observations of quenching induced cracking in a thin plate. As a preliminary assessment, cutting of concrete block using a high-power LASER is simulated using a high-resolution mesh, and the resulting crack patterns on surfaces are qualitatively compared.  The comparison produced a satisfactory agreement indicating the developed numerical model can be used study cracking induced by concentrated high energy sources like LASERS.

thermal induced cracking, higher order particle discretization scheme, LASER cutting