Open Access

ARTICLE

Propagation of Cracks in Selected Specimens Subject to Mixed-Mode

G. Dhondt¹, D. Bremberg²

1 MTU Aero Engines, Munich, Germany
2 MTU Aero Engines, Munich, Germany and KTH Stockholm, Sweden

Structural Durability & Health Monitoring 2010, 6(3&4), 305-328. https://doi.org/10.3970/sdhm.2010.006.305

Abstract

In a previous article the K-distritubion along the crack front of several mixed-mode specimens was investigated [Dhondt, Chergui, and Buchholz (2001)]. Both the modified virtual crack closure integral method and the quarter point element stress field method yielded results close to the available reference solutions in the literature [Murakami (1987)]. The present paper extends these results in two aspects. First, the meshing procedure used to obtain a focused mesh at the crack front is modified in order to deal with highly curved cracks. Secondly, the K-distribution along the initial crack is used to perform a crack propagation calculation. The form of the propagated cracks agrees well with what one expects and with experimental evidence.

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Keywords

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